Into the Darkness
by Iflytez
Summary: Yuffie x Vincent Why is Vincent always so angsty? It can't all be because of Lucrecia... Yuffie gets a unique opportunity to figure out why. Yuffentine, Vincent's origin type story. ch.20 slightly revised.
1. Into the Darkness

Na: Ya… this takes place right after the Highwind takes off… think about it, when you see the people on the Highwind later, Yuffie and Vincent are not with them… Probably because they are extra characters but that hardly matters at this point.

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Into the Darkness 

No sounds escaped her throat as it happened, as she watched the Highwind with its compliment shrink into the night sky atop the awesome force that was Holy. Had she only been a few seconds faster she and Vincent would have been safely aboard (as safe as you could be riding a surfboard at the trough of a tidal wave). 

She could only gape and stare at the Highwind, which was now becoming a speck of dust in the night sky. Even as the ground below her began to crumble she could only stare up, praying that it would miraculously swoop down and catch them. It took the steely coldness of Vincent's claw to tear her gaze away from the summit, and just in time as that particular platform below her began to crumble and fall into the depths bellow. 

Glancing about she hysterically searched for a way out, as the next overhang they used to get down to that area to begin with began to crumble. 

"ohmygod ohmygod ohmygod, Vincent we're going to die here, you hear that? We're going to die here! Why me? Why now? We won, we're heroes, we're not supposed to die!" she babbled to herself. 

Vincent on the other hand pondered his death, wondering if the 30 years of solace in his coffin had been enough to make up for the weaknesses and mistakes he felt were the summary of his life. As he pondered his attention turned to the 4 great women in his life, his four greatest mistakes, and in the end he decided 'no'. 30 simple years would never be enough, he resolved to spend eternity to make up for what he did. That's when he noticed Yuffie again. 

"Vincent! Vincent! Snap out of it! VINCENT," Yuffie screamed before she slapped his twice across the face effectively getting his attention. "what do we do? what do we do!." She let out a small sob, "we're trapped.." Silently she fell to her knees, and tears began to blur her vision. 'this isn't right, it isn't fair, we fought so the world could have a second chance, why can't we have one too?' she thought to herself. She quickly dried her tears as she saw Vincent come back from wherever he was. He stalked to the edge of the overhang and stare down into the lifestream. It's level beginning to rise 

"Vincent? please help me, I don't want to die here." she pleaded in an soft tone, never expecting him to care more or less respond. They barely spoke... well he barely spoke... She'd tried hundreds of times to get some response from him, something other than his famous one-liners. Random attempts to bring out some emotion other than sadness or regret, some positive emotion. Like the joy he had when he killed Hojo.. no.. not joy... closure maybe, but definitely not joy. Vincent wasn't like that, he may be quiet, vampyric, and to a degree demonic, but he wasn't sadistic enough to enjoy killing someone, even if it was the guy who cut off his arm and did everything but kill his wife, or girlfriend.. whomever she was. Maybe he could turn into Chaos and fly us out... or maybe chaos would slice me to ribbons and fly into the life-stream in a blind rage before that happens… odds were not in her favor. 

'Good, it's rising at a slow rate' he thought to himself, as he walked to the wall and inspected the slippery steep wall leading up. 'I could climb this, I'd need something with a good grip thought...' he thought as another usually more silent voice interjected; 'ur a friggin moron'. "Oh yes of course", he awkwardly said to himself. 

Yuffie looked up, "You say something Vinny?" 

"Its Vincent, now hold this" he said while tossing his cape to Yuffie, "and climb on my back." 

"One last game of Horsee before we retire to the OK corral?" she jested drying her tears as she slipped her arms around his neck and pulled slightly in a gentle attempt to cling onto him, but not to choke him to death at the same time. 

At that point in time he was glad he had a survival knife. At the first town they stopped at with his share of the gil, he decided to get a survival knife instead of smaller shotgun that was for sale at the weapons shop. The others tried to talk him out of it, arguing that the shotgun was more practical given that in their group situation a battle with environmental survival wasn't as likely as a battle with monsters survival, which called for a stronger weapon than his small PK. But in the end he ignored them and bought the knife anyways, keeping it holstered in his boot. He still remembered Yuffie, dancing around, whispering in the other's ears that he was buying a knife so it would be easier to 'slit their necks and drink their blood in the night', just loud enough for him to hear. And when he turned around to question her motives, she had just bent forward, hands behind her back and with a giant smile yelled 'luv ya Vinny' right before she dashed behind Tifa for cover. 

Now he was using the knife in his right hand, trying to dig as far as possible into the crags of the rock, getting some grip before he switched hands and pulled himself higher with his claw. After about 20 minutes of this they were outrunning the lifestream, gently making their way to the top. 

"Vinny, if you get us out of this, I'll luv ya forever!" She said, her heart skipping a beat in excitement as they slowly inched closer to the next overhang. She tried to inch a bit closer to his head, the side of her face rubbing against his jet-black hair. It's so smooth, I never noticed before... Then again I've never touched it before, her hands taking advantage of the moment and groping a bit as if to get a better grip. 'Hes built' she thought to herself. It was always hard to tell with him, the way he walked, the slightly oversized clothing, and the cape. He always seems to float with a supernatural grace, since he was a long-range fighter, she was never able to gage his strength, and the cloak hid his posture most of the time. Figuring out anything about this man was extremely difficult. His constant apathy to his comrades rubbed her entirely the wrong direction, being that she of all people demanded the most attention, but something in him made her keep trying to read him, keep pestering, and keep trying to get something from him. Was it curiosity? Curiosity wasn't this strong. No.. But why was she thinking of this now... She snapped back to attention 

"Yuffie!?" she nervously glanced around and noticed the beginning of the next to final overhang. With all her upper body strength she managed to pull herself up onto the overhang, then gingerly helped Vincent up. They both sat against the wall neither speaking for a moment, Yuffie listening to Vincent's heavy breathing, and Vincent persuading himself that he was fine, and there was just a little length to the top. 

Yuffie broke the silence: "Thanks for carrying me, I must have been quite the load." she murmured in gratitude. 

"You were" Vincent replied coolly as he stood up and estimated the next section left to climb. Yuffie remained on the ground perplexed; 'couldn't have been a joke, was he serious? He has never been one to insult either though.' 

Playing it off as a joke with a mock laugh she replied; "Did that hurt Vinny? Your first joke? Don't worry I won't let the others know you cracked under the pressure." 

"As you wish. We have about 30 ft. left, nothing compared to the trip up here. After this it's a nice straight path to the surface. We can hike back to Icicle town from there." Said Vincent. 

"And then we're home free!" shouted Yuffie. 

With that they began to climb yet again, in what was expected to be a quick 4-5 min. climb. As they reached the edge of the ledge, Vincent began supporting himself on his elbows and arms as Yuffie climbed over him onto the ledge. Just as she stood up and turned back to him waiting for him to come up, the entire cavern began to quake, everything was moving. Some of the stalagmites came crashing down, and Yuffie had to scramble out of the way of a few larger ones. 

Just as Vincent began his last heave to pull himself up, the strip of rock he was clinging to came loose about a foot from the edge and about 2 yards across. The slab of rock fell back down the slope with Vincent under it. Wide eyed Yuffie managed to get to the edge in time to see its landing on the very slope they had just had a breather at, the slab split into to two, Vincent right underneath the fracture. Yuffie screamed out to him, but it was like he couldn't hear her, or maybe was unable to reply. 

'This isn't possible, no way. We tried so hard' she kept telling herself... noo... he tried so hard, you came along for the ride. What's worse the Life-stream began to rise at an exponential rate. She broke into a sweat as she watched Vincent below, move his head, only his head, and shifted his arms a little bit. 

In the back of his head the voice called again 'its rising you fool, get up and move!' I can't he thought back, the rock... and my bones... my body... 'You must you fool, if not for me, then for the girl!' it shouted. Yuffie... He just stared up at her, and between heaving pants mouthed something, unable to add volume to it. She just stared back. Again he tried, this time adding a little volume, "run..." She just stared more intently, the meaning coming to her. Its getting close, almost to my level, he thought as he listened to the churning of the life-stream immediately below him. "RUN!" he screamed one final time before letting his head drop down onto the hard rock floor. She was still there... Some shine in her face... no she was crying... 'Why is she crying? Is she crying for me? Why is she feeling for me? How can anyone feel for me?' It almost made him feel angry. 

He could feel the life-stream on his back slowly rising till it dampened most his body and finally the tip of his nose. The shallow level relative to him was rather transparent. Yuffie was gone now. But as the level rose, things became increasingly darker. The powerful current within the life-stream dragged the rocks from atop his torso, He had to dig his bronze arm deep into the rock below to be keep from the current, but still his ribcage ached with an ungodly pain, and darkness was beginning to take hold of him as his consciousness began to leave him. Below him was pitch black, all he could do now was stare up at increasing darkness. Just as he was about to let go and be sucked into the depths of the life-stream a crash of light broke through the darkness. All Vincent could make out was the frame of a small girl. Yuffie... Quickly letting go, he swam as hard as he could towards her, catching her body. She was already unconscious. And despite how hard he tried, Vincent too slipped gently into the darkness.

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NA: Thougth I'd try to work the title into the story itself. Tell me what you think.. Feedback is fun. 

Have a nice day, and don't forget to brush your teeth.


	2. Flow of the Night

Na: I started this fic like 3 years ago, I just found it like 5 days ago. I only got up to chapter 5. Soooo... I'm going to release one of hte 5 chapter every five days, and the rest as i write them up.   
I'd have to say that of the 5 chapters I have, this is my least favorite chapter. Boring and so like the game.

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THE FLOW OF NIGHT

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Yuffie awoke, and was greeted by darkness... She tried to ignore the loneliness but she didn't need to for long. The darkness spied on her, it watched her, questioned her. The darkness and all the dead souls it encompassed was Yuffie's relentless inquisitor. 

Why am I here?.. I chose to come! I can't just leave him, I couldn't. 

I DON'T CARE THAT HES HALF DEMON! It's not his fault! 

I didn't know he did that... Stop it! Stop saying that, it's not him! 

It can't be him, no no you're wrong! That's not the Vincent I know. 

Why did I come? Because he is my friend and I care about him! 

She could feel the darkness close in on her, feel its hatred in its freezing touch. But from somewhere she felt two spots of warmth that quickly communicated similar thoughts to her. "Don't worry" Yuffie whispered softly, "I'll let him know you love him, and that you're sorry you can't be there with him." Suddenly the heat began to permeate, and spread, and all the other voices seemed to die out. At last there was only Yuffie and the warmth, followed by a quick shock.   
  
Suddenly she woke up with a scare, the darkness what was once feeding on her pushing into her was replaced with the faint luminescence of some fluorescent light bulbs. There she was, in what seemed to be the President Shinra's office. Sitting in her nice plush chair staring out. Out to 4 sliding doors, each one occupied with a figure with their backs to her. Each one staring out into whatever facet of his life they were from. She knew the general story from Tifa, but she had no clue what she was there to do. She gently ran her hand over the marble desk as she pondered the question. 

As if on cue: "To help him deal with the ongoing mistake that is his existence." Yuffie turned to see a relatively young man, no more than 30 years of age walked out from the side of the room and stand directly in front of her on the opposite side of the table, eyes closed. He was Vincent's height, brown disheveled hair, wearing black lace up shoes, white slacks, a black belt and a white Polo style shirt. He put his palms down on the table, opened his eyes and stared into Yuffie, his red eyes glinting in the faint light. She stared right back, and saw exactly what she was expecting. Felt as if the lights dimmed, the colors of his shirt and pants with it, suddenly a flash and the figure was replaced with a demon gently hovering in space, black wingspan and skin, 2 large horns, and Arms that extended into claws which continued into long talons. In this man's eyes, she saw Chaos. Suddenly she flinched and blinked her eyes; again the man in white stood in front of her, leaning on the table, a grin stretching halfway across his face. "Now that we've been introduced," he began. "You can start on what you were sent here to do. Ease his guilt trip and return us all to the surface." 

"You seem to know what we're doing, why don't you go alone?" 

"Vincent would never accept what I had to say, no. The only way to snap him out of this if someone he cared for, who he honestly believed cared for him, were to tell him from her own mouth. But remember, all you have to do is ease his pain. You don't have to make him feel better about it. Easing is enough to get us out of here. Nothing more. You can start with the first door on you left." 

Yuffie just stared at him. "How did you get stuck inside Vinny in the first place?" 

"Once I was trapped inside a materia. Now I'm trapped in this weak shell of a being." 

"Careful, if Vincent hears what you've been saying about him behind his back he could get really pi-issued," she teased back as she jumped out of the chair and began walking towards the first opening on the left. "Shouldn't there be a version of Vinny here to talk to me as well?" 

"As it is, his mind is a bit preoccupied. Yes usually he would also be here, but I'm sure he'll be able to return a bit later." 

Glancing inside the doorway, she saw a small boy, his back towards her, sitting on a small crate between two houses, staring out between them. As she stepped through the doorway, the door, on its own, closed. 

A slightly miffed Chaos sat down in one of the guest chairs in front of the giant marble desk. Putting his feet up on the desk, he closed his eyes and thought to himself: "that girl could ruin all my plans... with her I could remain trapped in this shell.. Without her I almost certainly face and eternity trapped in this room with Vincent floating about the life-stream... Decisions... Decisions... Decisions..."

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Na: I'll get around to explaining the Materia comment later… This one is really short. But I'll try to make the rest about as long as the first. 


	3. age 0 to 7

0-7

Na: Read and Review!   
Galveston has by far some of the worst beaches in the US, afterall it is the the mudhole of America

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Slowly Yuffie crept up behind the boy. Still sitting on the crate the boy continued staring off to the open spaces in front of the houses, kicking his legs gently. Her breathing quickly becoming faster and faster, she could feel sweat begin to appear on her brow as she gently reached out to get a grip on the boy, half expecting for her hand to slip through his body as if she were a ghost. To her relief she was greeted with the solidness of his small frame. Giggling a little at her own fright, she walked up next to the boy and just looked him over once, before turning her head to see what he was staring at. 

Out in the yard... More like a courtyard... there were children playing, at least 8 of them. This place... so familiar, but new... This wasn't the Wutai she remembered, this place seemed to sparkle. Sure some of the buildings she didn't recognize, and some she remembered were yet to be built, but it was still Wutai. She was home... kinda... 

"Vincent Valentine" she sneered, "you never told me you were from Wutai!" 

"You never asked," he replied turning to her and giving her a beaming smile. She just stared at him for a second. There was no way this child and the Vincent she knew were related in anyway. The smile on this child with his short black hair was so bright, so beautiful. She had never seen Vincent smile, or laugh. Once she had seem him smirk as half the team was blown over by a gust on their way to the promised land. But seeing his smiling face, and thinking of Vincent just made her want to cry. 'What could cause so much pain, as to remove all sense of joy from a man? Slowly he jumped off the crate and began walking out towards the courtyard. Yuffie followed quickly behind him. When they reached the end of the alley and entered the courtyard they could make out the children more clearly. 3 girls and 5 boys playing soccer. Off to the side were 2 ladies wearing bright colored Kimonos, daintily chatting with one another, while monitoring the children's movements. One boy of dark brown hair was on a breakaway heading for makeshift goal, when suddenly out of nowhere a smaller child with jet black hair swooped in from his flank and slide tackled the ball. The ball flying off to the side, and the brown haired boy nearly tripping. 

"Now Vincent!" snapped one of the ladies. "If you can't play nicely, we can leave for home right now!" 

"I'm sorry mom, it won't happen again." Turning to the brown haired boy; "Sorry Godo, guess I messed up." 

"I didn't fall, guess you did something right!" they both laughed and returned to the game. 

"Godo? Godo! My father? Hah look at him! Hes... Hes so stout, and has a puffy face, ohmygod! As soon as we get out, I'm going straight to Wutai, finding his baby pictures, and he'll never hear the end of it!" Yuffie cried out, resisting the urge to release her bellows of laughter. 

"Ya, I can sorta see the puffy face in you.." the younger Vincent casually commented, biting his lip and resisting the urge to laugh out at the reddening Yuffie who just went silent. 

"Vincent Valentine!" Yuffie began. "That's the first joke I've ever heard outa you!" 

"No, its the second." he replied, his smile of happiness, portraying more and more hints of sadness. "I know why you're here, and I can't, no won't take you there." He turned to her. "It hurts too much." A small tear slid down his cheek as he turned to face the women wearing the kimonos at the sidelines. "Besides, Its so much happier here, we can just stay here." 

"Vinny... I want to help you, but you have to help me... Why don't we just start from here, we can try to ease into it. But I need to know what happened. Please, for me." she pleaded. 

"Fine, for you." he replied. "I was born here, raised here till I was five years old. They were my friends." he said as he gestured to the group of children playing ball. "And she was my mother." He pointed to lady who had earlier scolded the young Vincent. "My father wasn't around as much as he or we would have liked. Usually he was traveling about selling weapons across the world. He was the vice-president of Valentine Weapons Corporation (VWC). The president was my uncle. The VWC has been extinct for a little over 50 years now." They began to walk around the courtyard as he orated his story. "I found out about half a year later, but when I was 5 my uncle was assassinated while inspecting family holdings in the south of continent of Wutai. Afterwards, when my father took over the position of President he moved our family away to Junon." As they turned the corner they came to a railing that over looked the sea. Wondering just when Wutai ever stretched this close to the ocean, she spun around and observed that they were no longer in Wutai. She saw layer upon layer of shops, houses, businesses and other building stacked one upon the other. "He said that Wutai was a strong nation, with strong warrior class citizens, but he couldn't rely on them to fight shadows that would stalk us in the night if they came. So we moved to the military port of Junon, one of the safest sites on the planet. It was here I first began learning about military strategy and weaponry. To my mother's dismay, my father made sure I had a working knowledge of guns, hand-to-hand self-defense, and a general grasp of military tactics. I joined a private school shortly after we arrived, but nothing too significant occurred while we were there. VWC began taking a larger share of the weapons market, and pushed some of the smaller companies out of the arms race, which pushed their competitors in entirely the wrong direction." The young Vincent turned from the railing and began walking towards one of the houses, as he did she noticed a group of 3 boys, wearing their school uniforms stop in front of one of the houses. None of them older than 7, one black haired boy, a near mirror image to the one she had been following, waved the others off and ran quickly into the house. The image of Vincent she had been following quickly following behind him. Yuffie ran to catch up with the two, lest she miss something important. When she got up the stairs and entered the living room, she saw both boys again standing one next to the other, Also in the room was Vincent's mother, the lady from the soccer game, sitting down on the couch, her face in the palms of her hands crying her eyes out. In the corner of the room was another man, wearing a black suit. Obviously fatigued and tired, he could barely look up to face Vincent or his weeping mother. 

"What happened Vincent?" inquired Yuffie. 

"That man just told her my father had been assassinated while attending a meeting in his office, and that the syndicate that had killed him, were likely after us as well. All my mother told me was that, something very sad happened, my father was on a business trip for the rest of the month, and that we would have to move again... I didn't believe her, but I didn't want to say anything." 

"So you fled Junon?" The entire room suddenly darkened. 

"And a day and a half later, we were at our new home in Midgar's Sector 2. We had a fairly decent house at the edge of town. I don't know too much about that place, I was only there for about 1 day." 

Yuffie just turned and stared at Vincent, his body the only thing she could see in the darkness. "What happened there?" her voice trembled. 

"I remember when I was training to become a Turk, someone once told me that Midgar was the best place to train Bounty Hunters. The place is so huge, and if you don't want to be found, its fairly easy to disappear altogether. That's why we went there... to disappear..." 

Suddenly the area lit up again and they were inside a small one-story house. They stood in the dining room, inbetween the Master bedroom and the Kitchen. On the dining room table was a brief case, and a slightly larger looking transport case. Just then the back door opened, and a slightly pale Vincent's mother and Vincent made their way through the house. Stopping only briefly to examine the contents of the cases. One filled to the brim with cold hard cash and a name and number, the other contained two small pistols, what Yuffie recognized now as the Outsider and a small PK. Holding back tears, she put the suitcase under the bed. Unable to carry the gun case, she pushed it off the side of the table, breaking the hinges. After replacing the lid, she pushed it under the bed alongside the brief case. Then she curled up next to the small 7 year old Vincent who had been asleep since they arrived. 

The time seemed to drag by, Yuffie didn't remember moving once, or blinking for that matter. She knew something was about to happen. The young Vincent who had been acting as her guide just stood by and watched his mother sleep. Slowly the day died out, and the night moon rose, hanging there in the sky. Yuffie could see it from the spot she had been standing at. Just then she heard something, a car drive up and shut off. Then the soudn of car doors. The noise wasn't wasted on Vincent's mother either. She quietly rose and woke the Young Vincent. 

"Mother what is it? I'm tired." 

"I know sweetie, I just want you to go... go under the bed for a little while until mother says its ok to come out. But you can't make any noise, you have to be as quiet as you can for mother." Vincent began to move, then she stopped him again. "Vincent wait, under the bed, in the case are some guns... If anything should happen, you should be able to pull the lid off.." Tears formed in her eyes. 

"Mommy?" 

"Not now sweetie, just climb under the bed like mommy said." With that she kissed him once on the forehead and flashed a proud grin at him. "Don't worry we'll be fine." 

Yuffie began panting harder and harder, her breath becoming shallow and fast as she watched. Vincent quickly slid under the bed and removed the cover to the gun case, as his mother made her way forward through the dining room towards the kitchen. Yuffie could only turn and stare as Vincent's mother glanced quickly out the kitchen window, seeing nothing, and went further down towards the back door. Quickly looking through the door's window, she practically jumped back and two loud cracks echoed in their ears. Her lifeless body falling backwards and landing with a thud, her face falling to the side, staring down the hall, straight into the master bedroom. Yuffie didn't have the will to move. She could only imagine the sheer and utter terror the young child under the bed was feeling. Turning to her companion, she noticed that he was now sitting against the wall hugging his knees, tears falling down his face. Turning back towards the kitchen she heard another large thud as the door was kicked in, two men entering the residence. 

"Two shots clean through the heart, she's gone. Lets find the kid and get out of here." said one of the gunmen. 

Yuffie was without breath, for about half a minute after Vincent's mother's death, she forgot completely to breathe. Still standing in the Dining room between the bedroom were Vincent was hiding, and kitchen where the intruders were entering, Yuffie dropped to her knees so she would be able to better observe Vincent's movements. He already had the smaller PK pulled out in his hands, with the outsider laying on the floor next to him. The first assassin stepped into the hallway uniting the 3 rooms, gun in hand. After he was in full view seven consecutive bursts from the smaller handgun to the chest brought the man down. After hearing the distinct click of an unloaded gun, the second man burst out of hiding, and began opening fire into the bedroom, unsure where to aim. The first 2 shots hit the bed, a third one the back wall, and a forth one struck the floor a few feet in front of the bed. This shot was followed up by a loud crack emanating from under the bed. The bullet caught the man in his forehead and he was instantly down. Vincent just stayed under the bed, unsure whether or not to move. 

After 5 minutes, which seemed more like an eternity, the small boy climbed out from under the bed and ran to his fallen mother. Yuffie chased behind him. Vincent just lifted her head, and placed it in his lap. Then he looked at his hands, they were smothered in blood. Yuffie turned to her companion. He too was staring at his tiny hands, they too were covered in blood. The host Vincent, just looked up at her, Yuffie's mouth was gaping open, tears forming in her eyes. 

He gestured to the young man still holding his mother, "I'd be like that till morning. Then I'd go through the briefcase, and discover the name of a bank, and the confirmation code and key to a safe deposit box in Sector 2. I could barely hold those pistols... I'd take them and the cash to the safe deposit box, I'd use their car." He laughed quietly at the memory of a 7 year old boy who would later that day drive to a bank to make a deposit of guns and cash. 

"No one questioned a 7 year old's presence at a bank like that?" 

"It wasn't their job to, I had all the right names and codes. But there was already something in the box. A large rifle, with its name inscribed in the handle. 'Death Penalty.' There was a note to my mother in the box, instructing her to give me the rifle when I was older. If anything were to happen to him, it would be as a keepsake. The first and last produced of its kind. After I placed the guns and money in the box, I memorized all the necessary names and codes I'd need to get back in there. Then I burned the paperwork. I probably wouldn't return for another 5 years, even then just to get one of the pistols, I didn't touch the money or the death penalty. I didn't feel worthy of it. After I was done at the bank, I promptly went to the police, and told them I had lost my parents in Sector 4. After two weeks they had assumed that either, they were dead, or I was abandoned. So I was sent to live at an orphanage. I'd stay with them for another 4 years, until I was kicked out, and began my life with the inner city gangs... 

"You must have been about 11." 

"I was old enough..." 

"Vincent, about your mother... You have to realize it was not your fault..." 

"It was my fault!" he snapped. "I could have gone with her, I managed to kill them both. I could have protected her!" 

"Vincent, look at yourself. You're seven years old. You probably wouldn't be able to see out the back door window, more or less shoot someone." 

"I don't care what you say! I could have. She didn't have to die!" 

"Yes she did..." Yuffie whispered, the tears beginning to trail down her cheeks. "They would have expected resistance from her, they didn't expect you to even know how to handle a gun, more or less know how to effectively use one. Your mother chose to die there, so you could ambush them when they came for you." 

Vincent was shocked, and angered at the same time. Storming back and forth in the dining room he just shouted; "How can you know that?! How can you say that?!" 

"I didn't say that. Your mother did." Yuffie could feel her stomach churn as a sick feeling overtook her. 

"What?" 

"While I was floating in the darkness. She contacted me. She wanted me to tell you, that if there was any other way she could have been with you she would have jumped at the opportunity. But there were none, so she sacrificed herself, so you would have a chance at ambushing those two. She wanted you to live, and be happy. So please forgive yourself, it would have made her sad to see you torturing yourself like this." 

Going down onto one knee, Vincent ran into her and embraced her. Holding one hand on his head, and the other on his back, she gently pushed his head into her shoulder. And they wept together. 

"How can I be happy when she's dead?" 

"So long as you always remember her, she'll never truly be dead." 

Vincent pulled back from her. "Thank you. I don't know what to say but thank you." Tears were still flowing down his face, but now he had a small smile. 

"Don't mention it short stuff." Yuffie winked at him before drying her own tears. "Oh ya, I'm not sure if you'll remember this when we're awake again. But if you... Vincent as a whole that is, ever needs to get something of his.. err.. your chest, I'll always be there for you." 

"Thank you, I'll take you up on that." He gestured to the bedroom, and when Yuffie turned around, the doorway became the doorway leading back to the Shinra office. She began walking back. Before she entered she spun around and waved to Vincent. He waved back. In the background she could see the Vincent from the memories still cradling his mother's head, then he began to look up. For a second Yuffie thought he was staring at her, but his gaze was off to the side, towards the windows, where the first rays of the morning's light was filtering in. She turned around again and walked through the portal.

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NA: I forget what kinda crack i was on when i first wrote this however many years ago that was. Its strange because this is probably one of the shortest flashback sequences i have. At the same time it may become really annoying to the reader since i spend alot of time going into conversation and subtle things about the characters. Right now i've gotten up to chapter 12, and well most of the chapters are pretty long. I'd like to apologize to everyone in advance if it seems like i go on forever about nothing. But i'm just trying to put this down as i imagined it. 

Please write up some Reviews! I really appreciate all the feedback, I just with there were more of you to thank for it! 


	4. Slight Reprieve

Slight Reprieve 

Yuffie skipped through the portal and back into the giant office through the portal. Her heart was overflowing with boundless joy. She had managed to help Vincent in the form of that small boy, and the feeling from it felt wonderful. She knew that she was a quarter of the way there to escaping this place, and now she might actually have Vincent's confidence, should something else ever come up. But something felt wrong. For a moment she stopped, closed her eyes and felt for the foreboding feeling that was invading her. Then a moment later she began skipping again and called out behind her: "Something wrong Chaos?" Yuffie sat on the desk and faced the doorway she had just entered through. Chaos just stood next to one of the portals, a frown across his face staring steely daggers into her gaze. 

"Nothing..." he sighed. "You seem to have had quite the positive effect on our young friend. I can feel it even here. The lights are somewhat brighter, the air not as stale. There is fruit on the table. Almost as if you managed to convince him that his mother's death wasn't his own fault." 

Yuffie looked up. "But it wasn't his fault. There was nothing he could do about what happened to his mother." 

"I told you once already, there is no need to lie to him and make him feel better. All you have to do ease his discomfort somewhat. If he is still relatively unhappy, or somewhat depressed, it's still enough to get us out of here. So next time, would you stop wasting time. It felt like its been years in here waiting for you to convince that little boy to be happy." 

Humph "whatever." Yuffie scoffed at him. Yuffie had no sense of time in this place. And neither did he. But it felt more like a half-day. She wasn't sure where she got that conclusion. Picking up a banana, she began to eat but felt his eyes on her again. 

"Yuffie! Timeliness is of great importance here. Get in, do it as quickly as you can, then get out. His happiness is not essential to escaping this place. Whatever issues he has you can work out with him after this is done." 

"You've been trapped in his mind for decades, but maybe I know Vincent better than you do. He'll never open up again once this is finished," Yuffie exclaimed to Chaos. And in a whisper said: "Not yet anyways." 

"He will, you'll see. Now you'd better hurry to the doorway, lest the ride start without you," Chaos jested. 

Yuffie jumped off the table and began skipping towards the second doorway. "Don't wait up, I have a date with an adolescent Vinny!" 'Ohmygod, I can't believe I just said that' she thought to herself. 

Chaos stepped in front of her. "I will wait up, because this won't take very long now will it?" He stared right into her eyes. 

Yuffie remembered his speech about timeliness. "Nope, just joking around." With that she walked around him and exited through the portal. 

"Good," he called after her. After the door closed Chaos walked back to the desk and tapped his fingers for a moment. Then said out loud to himself: "For your sake I hope so Yuffie. You're forcing me into a scenario I'd rather enjoy." With that final comment he picked up a bright red apple much bigger than his hand could cover, and he squeezed it so quickly and with such force that it exploded through the cracks between his fingers.

* * *

Na: This one is pretty short. So I thought i'd post it now. 


	5. Age 7 to 19

Na: Ya, I know i was going to update every 5 days or so, but it was finished, and i just finished another chapter today... so i decided to upload chapter 5 today. Hope you enjoy. And review! I wanna know what yall think.

7-19

* * *

'Chaos is hiding something,' thought Yuffie. 'I knew I couldn't trust him, seems I was right.' What he said of Vincent, easing his pain instead of curing it? That would never work. He has been in this state too long. Already he has suffered so much, if she could not help him here, then he would simply go crazy in this place. They might be able to escape, but in the long run Vincent would be finished. But then why would he want that?

There was no time to think about that now. It would have to wait until after she dealt with whomever she met at this place. She looked forward and saw the dark passage she had been walking through become an ally-way. The air was dank, and the only light came from the streetlamps ahead. She quickly looked up to sky, but what she saw shocked her briefly. It was one of the plates that separated upper and lower Midgar… She had only been to Midgar once in her life, and that was during AVALANCHE's brief invasion to stop the cannon. But the place still scared the crap out of her. When they were here, Vincent seemed quite at home. He seemed to know the place quite well, which was a comfort to Yuffie. It never occurred to her that he might have lived there. Even though she knew he was a Turk… And that he had entered an orphanage here at age 7. 

She continued walking, when she reached the end of the ally way she looked around for Vincent. To her left were some bums, scratching around the dumpsters for food. To her right were… some more bums. 

"Took your sweet-!#$%& time…" 

Yuffie felt like she jumped a mile high in the air after that unexpected comment. She looked down to her right to see a teenager, taller than she was, he was sitting directly next to her against a building. His hair was frosted white, he wore some well-worn and faded jeans, and a white T-shirt, too small but emphasizing his muscular physique. On top of that was a patterned button shirt that he left unbuttoned. He just stared up Yuffie, a smirk crossed about his face. 

"Where did you come from?!" she screamed in fright. 

"I've been here the entire time. Now what is it you've come here for?" 

"I've come to learn about Vincent, about his regrets." 

"Then you can go ahead and leave, I have no regrets." He replied dryly, standing up and walking away. 

She could just stare after him. This is Vincent? What happened to the youth and happiness that the boy before this had shown? Where was he? This man's icy coldness, and defensiveness practically screamed Vincent Valentine, But- 

"Wait!" she called after him. But he just quickened his pace, taking off around the corner. She could only chase after him, quickly closing the distance. As she rounded the corner, she crashed into him. 

They both crashed to the ground. Vincent just jumped up and yelled "Dammit woman what do you want?" 

"I just wanna talk." 

"Then talk already." 

"Well…" Yuffie stammered. "What happened after the younger Vincent… err.. You went to the orphanage? Oh ya? and why didn't you tell the police about what happened to your mother?" 

The adolescent Vincent just stared at him for a moment. "He told you about that?" 

"He wanted to." 

"You're not the sharpest tool in the shed are you? I didn't tell them, because then whomever was trying to kill us would know I was still alive." 

Her rolled her eyes back. "That makes sense." 

"And after I entered the orphanage." He looked around for a second. "Its right over here, I'll show you." With that he grabbed her hand and ran down a couple blocks then through some alleyways, where they stopped in front of a stoop. Just in time to see an angry Vincent storm out of doors chased by several worried social workers. 

"Vincent please! You're making a big deal out of nothing." yelled one of them, just as he passed the spot Yuffie, and her guide were standing. 

"NOTHING!" he screamed back. "You're always telling me how lucky I am to be there. How lucky I am there are people who will care for me. Well I'm telling you, its nothing but bad luck that brought me here. If I were lucky, my parents would still be alive! If I were lucky none of this would ever have transpired! If I was lucky I wouldn't have had to watch my parents die!" This was followed by a brief silence. Then a steamy eyed Vincent ran back down the alleyway they had just emerged from. 

"After my parents died I was a real fussy kid. Complained about everything. I just didn't want to be happy. So she scolded me about how ungrateful I was. Actually, beside yourself, she is the only other person who I told about how my parents died. Well maybe Chaos, but that doesn't really count. I regret what transpired there. She still thought I was an unwanted child. I'm sure it hurt her much more than me. 

Yuffie just looked at him for a minute. "Is this what's been bothering you all this time?" 

He just looked at her for a second. "HELL NO! This was nothing. Sure it was sad, but I wouldn't slowly kill my mind over it. Hey, you're the one who wanted to know about my past. I'm getting to the angst, give me a chance. Damn woman…" 

Yuffie just looked away for a minute, slightly annoyed. 

"So ya... After I left, I did the only thing a young man in my position could do... I joined one of the local gangs... Let me tell you something about the Midgarian gangs in that day, there was such hatred between them, you'd wonder how there could be anything left after 5 years of their constant battling. Predominantly there were 5 primary gangs: Red Skulls, The Sweepers, New Midgar Order, Red Storm and the Zero Types. I was a member of the Sweepers. After I left the orphanage, I went back to the bank and began carrying my PK again. I told you my father put me through a rigorous weapons, movement, and tactic training when I was younger? Being raised in Wutai, I was already very flexible, and agile. But my father unleashed the marksman in me. And that's what I've been since." 

"Did you ever have to use your PK?" Yuffie asked, already knowing the answer. 

"Allot sooner than you'd think. When I was walking down the street towards the Sweeper HQ, I was opened fire upon by some punks in a convertible. I managed to blow out two of their tires, before they got away. Some of the Sweepers saw this and invited me into their group. I gladly joined. They didn't ask where I came from, or how I was so good with a gun at such a young age. Everyone who is forced to join gangs like that had a tear-jerking-sob-story. I moved up in rank, and during one of the first assaults I was apart of I met her, my first love." 

Yuffie looked puzzled, "I thought you loved Lucrecia?" 

Vincent just scowled at her. "God damnit woman. That comes later. OK?" 

"Fine, geez... don't get all bitchy at me." 

"Whatever, anyways..." The two began walking side by side again down the street until they came to a large warehouse. "This was our target, a food and ammo storage unit used by the ZeroTypes." The lights gently faded. It was now the night cycle for lower Midgar (They don't get much real light so they dim and brighten the lights at certain times so the populace can sleep [Much like the SDF1].) As they approached the great sliding doors towards the front two smaller figures quickly approached the doors. One standing back a few feet watching for other people, while the other began picking the lock. After a few moments he pulled the chains of the door with a rattle, and slid the door open about a yard. They slipped in silently, and were quickly followed by 8 others, who emerged from the shadows. Each of them were lightly armed it seemed. Small pistols, and knives. As they entered the Facility, Yuffie watched as the 10 divided into smaller groups and spread about moving in the shadows in search of the unlucky souls that would be guarding this warehouse. 

"There were only 6 people guarding the warehouse that day. 3 of them had their throats slit, 2 were shot when they came searching after the noise of their dead comrades, but one was left alive... Because I couldn't bare the thought of killing someone so beautiful." Vincent led Yuffie as they trailed a pair of men slowly stalking their way around the edge of the warehouse to a small storeroom where a light was on. As they approached a gentle humming noise filled the air. They slowly approached the room the door slightly ajar. 

There sat a girl no more than 17 perhaps. Dirty blond hair cut short, blue eyes focused on the ceiling and occasionally on the TV monitors against the wall. Her feet were up on table. She wore a pair of tight jeans so you could tell she had legs to die for. Hours of boredom had taken their toll on the girl, she just sat on her chair staring up at the fan. Off and on glancing back and forth to the TV monitors on the table. They showed nothing. No sign of her comrades, no sign of the intruders, and no sign of a forced entry. Everything was just as it had been for the past half year, peaceful. She knew that if she missed something, the two other stations would surely have picked up on it. Presently her partner was on rounds, off to have a look about the warehouse. That was his job, that and to get her more coffee on his way back. 

Just then she heard, two consecutive shots, from the sound, they were pretty far away. She immediately slammed her chair down and stared at the television screens. Nothing... Again three more shots, but closer. She got up off her chair and grabbed her SMG. She had to report this quickly, there was no telephone here but there was a terminal in the back she would try to get to. Opening the door, she had no idea what she was walking into. As the door opened, the butt of a knife slammed into her stomach a second person quickly stepped up behind her taking a grip of her gun arm, and in one fluid motion ejected her clip and squeezed the trigger releasing the chambered round into a nearby crate. 

With the girl, passed out on the ground, and her weapon now in the hands of her enemies, Vincent (from the memories) and his companion began to debate her immediate future. His companion pointing his pistol towards her body, while Vincent pleaded for her life. Unknown to both of them, the young lady was still conscious, barely. And she was extremely frightened. Finally winning his partner over, they dragged her body back into the watch room and tied her to her chair. 

Yuffie from her place was speechless, and sneered to Vincent, "I've never seen you beg anything from anyone before this." 

He gave her an angry glare, "She was worth it, I didn't even know her at the time, but I knew she was worth it. So we left her there, tied to the chair." 

After they tied her up, her companion began searching for vehicle keys, while Vincent inspected the various weapons stockpiled in the small room. 

"Found it!" His partner exclaimed. "Keep looking, if you find something noteworthy, I'll be organizing the transportation in the center section with the others. But we'll be leaving in 10 minutes, so keep up or you'll be left here." With that he left, and Vincent resumed searching the smaller boxes in room. 

The girl just looked up at him. "You're not going to find anything, all they keep in here is small arms, and ammo." 

"I doubt there is anything noteworthy in this place. Some of the crates fell over near the entrance. This place seems more like a stockpile for a secondhand goods dealer than a gang's weapons-storage stockpile." 

"I know what you mean, they keep all the fun stuff in the center area for quick transport." 

Vincent flashed a smile at her. "You're hiding something... And I thought you liked me, after all I did save your life a while back." Looking around Vincent noticed a slightly discolored section on the plaster walls. Grabbing a chair in hand he smashed it into the wall that easily broke away. 

The girl just looked down at her knees, slightly ashamed at how easily she was read. Inside the wall were two large duffle bags that had been deposited a few days earlier. She was one of the few people who knew about it, and she had given it away. Vincent pulled one of the bags out of the wall and inspected it. It was full to the brim with Gill. Large note bills suffocating in that rather large bag. 

Vincent threw the bag over his shoulder. "Consider the second bag an apology for hitting a woman in the stomach. If you'll excuse me, I have to catch my ride." 

She was shocked, "Wait!" she cried. "Why are you doing this?" 

Vincent just looked at her, "I really have no idea." He began to smile and continued through the door. 

She looked away for a second. "Meet me tomorrow. Section 2 Public Park. Its Red Skull territory, so you don't have to worry about an ambush." 

Vincent stared back at her. "Alright, tomorrow at Section 2. I'll seeya there around noon." 

She smiled. "You'd better get going, the next shift gets here in about 20 minutes." 

And with that they parted. And the scene began grow darker, everything fading out. 

Yuffie looked over to Vincent who was still visible. "Was that her? Your first love?" 

"Yea." 

Yuffie smiled, and laughed some. "Vincent you dog! Even after robbing the poor girl blind, you managed to bag the girl." 

"Ya, I bagged her alright." Vincent sneered and looked into the darkness recalling her. 

"..... Too much information. Anyways, what happened after that?" 

"We became a couple, we never saw each other in battle, but we met as much as possible. After sometime, the aggression between our leaders grew, as did the intensity of our gang war. All 5 gangs were spiraling into disaster. Between the 5 to begin with, we were huge, with limited resources though. However four years of inner city guerilla warfare took their toll on our numbers. Everyone was growing increasingly tired of the gang wars, including the government. Midgar's government had probably profited the most from us. As we weakened, they were able to retake control of certain areas. They sold weapons to everyone at exaggerated prices, and they were slowly building a small army, to bring order to Midgar. As I saw it, there were three options; Die in the war, Die immediately after the war, or unite the gangs. Sera, her name was sera by the way." Yuffie nodded "She agreed with me. Long story short, we kidnapped our leaders, had them meet, then they met with the leaders of the other 3 gangs. Immediately afterwards a truce was called, until the gangs grew back in strength. It wasn't peace, but it was a start. However..." 

"Isn't there always a 'However'?" Yuffie chimed in. 

"The government had no intention of giving us that chance. So a new war broke out, between the remnants of the old gangs, and the government. But for a short time, we were happy. Ya... After my parents died that was the first time I believed things would work out for the best. Dear God how I loved her... It wasn't some animal passion... Well it was that, but there this mental connection between us. She was my world, when I woke she was with me. We did everything together. We took vows, they were our own, and we didn't need a church to recognize them. They were our vows, for our new life together... Everything together... except death." For a moment Vincent just stared into the darkness around them, then his head snapped up. "Except death." 

"How did it happen?" 

"It was fairly stupid." Vincent walked past Yuffie and it seemed as he passed a dimly illuminated skyline formed behind him. They were now on a roof staring below to a highway. "That was us. We were young, and obviously stupid" 

She could see them now, a small red convertible speeding down the highway. Cutting off several cars as it switched lanes. Suddenly from behind a set of sirens began squealing, and multicolored lights flashed, as several lightly armored vehicles pulled up near them. 

"We were so plastered we didn't notice them tailing us. This was 2 months into the war. We were winning, the government was beginning to collapse and we were taking its place." Tears began to form in Vincen't eyes. "Its strange... In a way, I'm directly responsible for the rise of the Shinra within Midgar. When the government realized they were losing, they licensed private organization to take direct and lethal action against any and all government enemies. Then the weapons companies moved into Midgar. Shinra, was primarily a weapons company back then. Mako didn't come around for years. Anyways, we're getting to the good part. I just blew out the tires on 2 of them, I was a great shot, even then. And here it comes. 

All four occupants of the car were turned around, and watched as the police cars flipped behind them. They were now the only cars on the road, and they were putting great distance between themselves and the cop cars. 

"Damn this car is da shit man. We're out cruising those Cruisers!" 

"It shouldn't be that fast." The driver exclaimed twisting his head further to get a better look at the fading lights. 

"Hand me your rifle scope. Maybe I'll be able to see what they are up to." Said Vincent. "It looks like they are exiting or something. They are still coming, but slowly." 

"Speaking of exits." began Sera. The highway has become a city street, so maybe we should find out where we are and get home already. Sera and the driver turned to the front, but Vincent and the passenger kept staring behind them, expecting something to come. 

Then suddenly in a shrill voice Sera screamed out. The driver exclaimed 'Holy SHIT!' as he turned the wheel and slammed on the breaks bringing the car to a screeching halt perpendicular to the Shaft of a tanks main cannon. For a moment, all any of them could do was stare. Then the reflexes of the driver kicked in as he slammed on the gas, and the car began to lurch forward, but not before a single tank round slammed into the trunk of the car, spinning the car around and flipping it once. From the rooftop, Yuffie could see it all and hear it all. 

[The street was in a T shape, while the car was running straight across the top horizontal street they stopped in front of the tank, which was at the far corner. When they tried to take off, they were hit by the tank round flipped them and now they are down a ways on the vertical street.] 

When the car flipped, Vincent and Sera had been thrown clear of the car. Landing a couple of feet behind it. (They weren't wearing the seatbelts.) The driver and the passenger however were still trapped inside the car, safely secured by their safety belts. Moreover, sirens were beginning to approach from the other direction. 

"Sera! We have to get them loose and get the hell out of here, if that tank doesn't kill us those cops surely will!" 

They both looked around for a moment. "The sewers! I can't lift the manhole covers, you do that, and I'll work on freeing these two." With that she began to fiddle with the doors, trying to work them open. 

"SERA!" She twisted around. "Be careful." 

Vincent ran about twenty feet down the street before he found a manhole, which he easily hefted. [he's buff]. But there was a rumbling sound in the distance, he looked back and the tank had begun moving. The treads ripping into the cement, and it slowly moved further into the intersection. Then it stopped and the tank's main gun slowly began to move in the direction of the car. Followed by several large clanks as the next shell was loaded into the gun. 

As if it were nothing more than a thin plastic disc, Vincent launched the manhole cover through the air with freakish accuracy just as the cannon was fired. And the manhole intercepted the shell a few feet away from the tank. The explosion simply rocked the tank back and forth for a moment, then it was still. He looked back over at the car, Sera had managed to get the passenger out, and was now helping him drag the driver out of his side of the car, seems he was hurt pretty badly. Maybe they could make it out of here in one piece- 

But Vincent's thoughts were cut off by the sound of machine gun fire. Looking over his shoulder he saw two policemen opening fire on his friends. Dropping down to his knee, Vincent brought the outsider to bear and killed both officers in a matter of seconds. But it was too late, all three were on the ground, bullet wounds. But he could see Sera, she was still struggling, fumbling with something in her hands. Just then Vincent turned to his left, the sounds of many sirens wailing from down the street in great number. And if that wasn't enough, there was a second sound to his right, the familiar clink of the tank's cannon loading again. 

But how? He had hoped at the least that the explosion would have damaged the machine, but it just seemed to have slowed the occupants down some. 

In a split second hundreds of thoughts fought their way through his attention seeking notice. There was nothing left, in half a minute the police would arrive, before then the tank would surely fire, and kill all his friends, if any remained. But Sera was still there. If he could get to her, everything would turn out fine, he could feel it. 

Vincent brought himself up from one knee and thought to himself, 'If I can just get to her---' 

Again his thoughts were cut off by the bang of a small sidearm, the bullet had caught him in the shoulder spinning him around. And a second shot hit him in the leg he had been putting his weight on. He fell headfirst almost directly into the manhole, jerking his head around the last thing he saw before he fell in was Sera, a few yards away the car, and mangled corpses of their friends with a smoking pistol in her hands. 

Vincent fell into the manhole but managed to catch the ladder while upside down. And with a whisper like quality he heard her call out, "Vincent." And with all the remaining strength he could muster, he called her name, "Sera!" But his volume was quickly overwhelmed by blast from tank, destroying all hope. He lost his grip on the ladder and fell for what felt like forever before he crashed into the river of diverted floodwaters, being deposited at the edge of the city limits. He let the flow carry him; he had lost all hope.

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Na: The whole thing about a car chase I completely stole from this other dude's story. I read his fic like a couple months after the game came out, which was like… I dunno however many years ago. Can't find it anywhere though, the site probably closed by now. No matter. Granted that after so much time, when you're doing something like this there are few things that are original. And if you wanted to cite everything that's been done before… then… well… You'd be screwed like a mutha fugga. But this is the only part that I look at and say: 'ya… I remember that story…' 

please don't hate me..... 

Have a nice day… Read and Review Please.


	6. Shining Hope

Shining hope

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They were in pitch black. All either could see was the other. Vincent was sitting on something. Yuffie stood a few yards behind him, her hand in a fist against her chest. She could feel her heart thumping. What could she say to him? What do you say to someone who lost his or her loved one in such a violent way? 

"One thing I loved about her was her eyes. I had noticed it the very first time we met. Those eyes had a quality, like she knew something no one else could understand. It wasn't contempt, but an enlightenment, or happiness maybe. I never would have agreed to meet her, if it wasn't for those eyes. They captivated me, I wanted to know what it was she felt. And I did… It was the supreme feeling that through thick and thin, there would always be a happiness waiting for you. It was hope. When I fell into the manhole I had one last good look at her face. The glint in her eyes was gone. She lost her hope… And that look… In her eyes… I've never found it again, in myself or in others. Save once…" 

"That's not true Vincent… She had hope, and she put it into you. She loved you to the end, that's why she shot you. She put her hope in you, into your survival. Your own memories dictate it, there would have been only a couple seconds to get to her. You probably would not have even had a chance to pick her up before the blast killed you both. She saved your life with the hope that you would live on." Yuffie stepped up behind him and linked her arms around him. "She loved you in life and in death, please don't waste that on sorrow and regret. It would only sadden her.." 

With that Vincent began to stand up and turn around facing Yuffie. Taking both her hands in his he said; "You're right, I shouldn't waste my time in this sorrow, and I should be celebrating what time we had together. Thank you." 

"Then you're feeling better?" 

"Don't worry about me. You've given me something very precious, something to hope for." 

Yuffie smirked. "good then, now you can't say I never did nuthin for ya!" With that she turned about face and skipped away into the darkness. Not entirely sure where to, but confident this general direction would take to the portal back to the main room. 

Vincent just stared as she skipped away. "Something to believe in, my own humanity, and in love." 

With that he felt himself begin to fade. There was no longer a reason for him to dwell and skulk here. He would join the Vincent from the present, along with the small boy. He was ready to move on, he wanted to see what bright hopes the future had for them. All of them.

* * *

Yuffie just kept on skipping, eyes closed tightly he was happy imagining the Vincent she knew in badly drawn crayon form thanking a version of herself that was also very badly drawn in crayon. Suddenly a funny feeling came over her, and she knew she was back in the Shinra office that led to the other portals. When she opened her eyes, only one item stood out. A very angry looking Chaos sitting at the head chair with his feet up on the table. 

"Busy busy bee..." he said, and then went tight-lipped. 

"Before you start with me, I just want to say... no... I don't need to justify my actions. Vincent is my friend, and I will help him in every way possible. I'd do the same for you, if you it weren't for all the bad vibes you've given me since I got here. 

I suppose it's too late for what I had in mind, so I might as well tell you. I wanted, in fact, for this body to escape the life stream. But I didn't want him to be happy with himself. No... I wanted him to feel a constant fight with sadness, anger, and sorrow. A constant turmoil in his mind." 

"Why?" 

"So I could emerge on a more permanent basis." He said dryly. "If his mind is in a constant state of chaos then it would be harder for him to regain control over himself after he transforms." 

"You wanted his body, as a host to you..." Yuffie was shocked. Vincent always seemed in complete control of his inner demons, it had never occurred to her that perhaps one might be able to escape if given the chance, and whats worse steal Vincent away from her.. err.. the group. 

"A temporary host, mind you. There is no way to completely extract myself, but for the most part I could possibly free what matters, my mind." 

"Have you told Vincent this?" 

"Yes, but he feels he cannot release such an evil unto the world. So he ignores the option." 

"What would you do if you were to free yourself? and what would happen to Vincent?" 

"To Vincent? He would have one less voice in his head... Actually I could take care of the other three as well... He would gain my longevity. As for myself, I will return to the life stream, and I guess in a few millennia transmutation into a summon materia." 

"What?" 

"Materia. Summon" 

"But how? You're a demon?" 

"Haha hah ha hah ha.." he cackled. "You know nothing of the true origins of the summon material, few do. One being the late professor Hojo." 

"I'm not following…" 

"I would not expect you to." Chaos folded his arms and just looked at her for a moment. "Help me, and I'll tell you everything, the legends behind the summon material and the great civilization of the past. Everything needed to extricate myself from Vincent is located in the ruins below the Temple of the Ancients." 

Yuffie, just stared at him for a moment. "How exactly can I trust you?" 

"You along with the other members of AVALANCHE already seem to trust me, and for good reason. Never once when I was transformed have I attacked you, or tried to escape. I've been as loyal to AVALANCHE as Vincent has." 

"Good point" 

"..." Chaos just looked at her for a second. "You can help me... He would trust you with his life. You go ahead through the next portal, and help him as much you can. When you finish the next two portals, before you leave this place I will be prepared. I'll show you and him everything I know. But you must help me. Help me convince him to release me. I've lived too long as it is, and the confines of this mind and body are taking their toll on what sanity I possessed in the first place." 

"Fine... After I finish, with the next two portals..." 

He stood up suddenly, "Swear it! Swear you'll help me!" 

"I swear it." With that she turned around and began walking to the next portal. 

Chaos just stared as she left, then thought to himself: 'you maybe the only hope for freedom I have left. Good luck...' "I know on some level you can hear me Vincent. I know you like I do myself. She's a keeper. Even if it takes you a thousand years to learn it for yourself, I hope you'll act on it soon."

* * *

Throwing in violence probably would have been better, but it wouldn't have served my original purpose. I'll leave a note about that at chapter 10 when it comes into play.  
Ur reviews make me happy. 


	7. Reflection

Somewhere in the back of Vincent's mind 

"A man with nothing to lose, is the most dangerous man..." 

"A man with nothing to lose, is the most dangerous man..." 

"A man with nothing to lose... Has everything to gain..." 

". what?... " 

"Everything... You could have everything..." 

"Everything what?" 

"Life, Humanity, love..." 

"Lucrecia?" 

"Is that what you want..." 

"no..." 

"What do you want?" 

"I want ot know why... Why... why would she give up her life to come after me." 

"Did she think of it as giving up her life?" 

".. no...." 

"What would she think of it then?" 

"saving me..." 

"And _why_ would she want to do that?" 

"Back to square one... " 

"What do you want?" 

"A way out, of this place." 

"In the long run... what do you want?" 

"I want what the Shinra stole from me, What Hojo stole from me. I want them back. " 

"They'll never come back." 

"Thats why it hurts so much. " 

"Thats why you'll let it destroy you? Thats why you'll endure an eternity of suffering, because it hurts to think about them? How do you think Cloud feels? Aeris was ripped from him before his eyes, and his hometown burned to the ground. " 

"He had his revenge on Sephiroth.." 

"Did'nt you have your revenge on Hojo? and the Shinra for that matter?" 

"Its... Its different....." 

"Barret was forced to kill his best friend. Tifa lost her home and her family. Reeve has stood by for years and watched the city he loved degrade into some tricked out ghetto. Yuffie, has nearly sacraficed her life to try to help a man who is resolved to living a life of sadness and depression. How do you think they feel?" 

"They still have their hope... I have nothing... Every time I found a new hope, it was stripped from me and stolen away. Hope doesn't last." 

"No.. the difference is that they haven't stopped looking for hope." 

With that Vincent raised an eyebrow and his eyes narrowed in a thoughful look. 

"Since you are in fact me... Where would you recommend looking for hope?" 

"We are not you, we are the shadows that make up you. Hope is not something you should look for in us, find it now as you are. We've had our hopes, had them lost, and have found new ones, in the future. Its up to you to go find it." 

A silence followed for a moment. 

"Yuffie is here, maybe you should go see her." 

"I am aware of that, why she would be here is beyond me." 

"She is here doing what she has always done to you." 

"annoy me? steal from me?" 

"Trying to create a light for your dark life. Your pessimism is'nt fooling anyone, go talk with her." 

Vincent frowned for a second. 'that did'nt sound right' he thought to himself. The last part sounded somewhat aggressive, not like subconscious he had been speaking to. "Chaos" he said aloud. 

"In the flesh... more or less." he replied. 

Vincent exhaled loudly and finally said, "Why can't you be like the other demons and silently await my next limit break?" 

"Because like I have told you many times before this, I am no mere demon. If you would hear me out, we could create a solution quite beneficial to both of us. Besides I thought their silence would have pleased you. 3 less voices." 

"I'll not be tricked by the likes of you." 

"But Yuffie would..." 

"DEMON IF YOU LAY A FINGER UPON HER-" 

"There is no way you can be assured of her safety unless you come with us. I have no evil designs upon the girl, I'm simply using her to get your attention.... You will hear me out, she is willing to." 

"Fine then Chaos, I will accompany her through your twisted mind." 

At that comment Chaos began to laugh, and howl, and when he finally stopped he said in a light tone, "I assure you Vincent, whatever twists are present in my mind are nothing compared to your own. But why do you consider me an enemy? Numerous times you have sought my council, and I've never led you astray. Is it because he put me here? Because you had no choice? I assure you, the feeling in that case is mutual. I was alive for nearly 500 year, and in my prime was killed. My life was that of a constant struggle. And at the end of that struggle, it was stolen from me by a cowardly move. Whatever joys I had in life was nothing compared to the peace of death. After 500 years of battle, peace was all I prayed for." In a harsh whispered voice he said, "You can keep my powers, my longevity, everything. I simply want to die and return again to the planet." 

"I will grant your request and visit your memories with Yuffie, so leave me now demon. Come back only when you are ready to depart. I still have things I must consult... with myself..." 

"In this place you are both the Id and the superego. Your subconscious the ego. You know what it is you truly want, but you do your best to hide it even from yourself. Maybe before I leave your body, you'll consul in me once your problems." And with that Chaos disappeared. 

"Where was I?" Vincent breathed to himself. 

"You were avoiding the subject of what you want." 

"..."

* * *

NA: The lies you tell yourself are always the most interesting. I thought I'd throw this section in. 


	8. Age 19 to 20

19-20

* * *

Yuffie had no idea what to expect when she exited the portal. First there was her home town of Wutai, the lower slums of section 2, maybe she'd start where he left of and would start out speeding down some water drainage sewers, which kinda made her nervous. Instead she entered the front gate of a small village she had been to many times before. Kalm. After looking around for a moment noticing the various people going on their way, a man in a black suit reading a newspaper caught her eye. When she began moving towards him, he immediately put the paper down and walked towards her. 

The first doorway led to the happy child, the second to the unruly youth, and the third led to the clean cut professional. That's precisely how he looked. Even in his early twenties, the way he looked added a decade to his age. Nicely polished shoes, black pants, and dress jacket. White button-shirt. Black tie. From the bulges in his chest she could tell he was wearing two pistols, one larger on his right and a small on his left. His Jet-black hair was put into a ponytail that was tied with a red rubber band. The general untidy tidiness of the Vincent she knew made him seem much younger than the man before her. What struck her the most was the wanton apathy she saw in his eyes. 'He could care less about my being here. He just wants it over.' She thought to herself. 

When they finally met in the middle she said to him, "You look so much like Tseng." 

"Traditional garb of the Turks, he too was half Wutaian, but he probably won't be born for another five to ten years." 

"So…. Where are you?" 

"After I fell down the manhole-" 

"Which is pretty sick.." 

"May I continue?" She nodded. "I was found by a young couple that were hiking in the foothills around Midgar. They found me and dragged me back to Kalm since they figured it was not safe for one of my _types_ to be seen around Midgar. As it was, it was not safe for anyone there. The various weapons companies were hunting the gangs down with a contract for each confirmed kill. It was there that the Shinra emerged victorious, winning both the majority of the bounties and the future weapons contracts with the city of Midgar. From that point the Shinra would be the primary providers and trainers for Midgar's weapons and security. But getting back to the story, they brought me back here and nursed me back to health. They also sent me back to Midgar in a more professional looking attire." 

Just as he said that, another version of Vincent wearing khaki pants and a button up shirt strode outside and into the passenger seat of a vehicle that upon his arrival clicked on and began puttering its way to Midgar. 

"I still had plenty of cash in the bank, so I went there first. After sending a reasonable sum back my friends in Kalm, I rented out a small apartment in sector 3 and started job hunting." 

There was a brief flash, and they were back in Midgar, standing side by side on the corner in the middle of horribly ragged neighborhood. Patrolling in pairs were guards in uniforms of blue, carrying submachine guns and knight sticks. Further down the street were a group of 4 guards in a square formation, in the middle was a large man in a white suit, strolling down the street as if he owned the entire town, his walking stick clicking in tune to his shoes. Faces appeared in windows, and people quickly crossed the street to avoid his path. No one wanted to be in his path incase he snapped again. 

two weeks earlier: A similar scene 4 guards and one large man now in a gray suit. They were walking down a similar street with more ragged sidewalks. As he tipped his had to a woman in a stroller he tripped on the broken concrete sidewalks. As he rose one of the guards gave him his hand to help him up. A cackle of laughter erupted from a young man no older than 17 leaning against the building they were walking by. All 5 men just turned to him, as the man in gray turned red in face. One of the guards stepped forward and said, "Shut your mouth! This is the governor of Sector 2 you're laughing at!" 

"Whose governor? I didn't elect him." He coolly replied and continued his loud cackle. The man in gray, the mayor turned two more shades of red before he decided to vent his anger. The handle of his walking stick caught the man between his neck and shoulder, he was instantly down. Then the mayor walked forward and began relentlessly kicking the young man in the stomach and crotch, pausing now and then to stamp his head and fingers. After about ½ a minute, one of the guards walked forward and put his hand on the mayor's shoulder and gingerly asked, "Maybe we should st—" but was cut off my 5 loud bangs. The mayor had reached into his suit and shot the guard 5 times without bothering to remove the gun from its holster inside his coat. He turned to the other guards, who backed off a couple steps hands. Then with a plain unwavering face he picked up the dead guard's submachine gun and put a clip into the young man. He then dropped the rifle and walked a couple yards down the sidewalk, then stopped. The guards just stared back. In a calm voice he called out, "It's a shame that one of Midgar's men in blue should go crazy like that and kill a poor young man. I had to kill him, it was justice." Then he started walking again. The 3 remaining guards to looked at the dead body of the poor boy and their former comrade then hurried to catch up to their governor. 

Present… well past present… 

"It wasn't hard to find jobs. Men like this were everywhere. Their exploits were made famous during the gang-midgar war. They hunted down the remnants of the gangs and turned them in for cash. They were murderer's all of them. When the war was over, the city honored them for their services rendered, but they never stopped. They continued to murder, except now with a government authority and an escort of guards. Finding work in this place wasn't hard. Not hard at all. 

At that moment, the 5 men passed their corner, and as they got midway between the streets a large crack filled their ears and one of the men fell over. The four guards just stared down the street. Four blocks from where they came from, a man stood up on the roof of a apartment building. He wore a black shirt, black pants and had a pistol in his hands. They couldn't tell what he looked like, but they all knew he fired the shot. Slowly he stood up and walked towards the back of the building, where he would jump from roof to roof for the next 20 minutes on his way back to his apartment in sector 3. When he disappeared from view the 4 solders turned to face each other. 

"Think we should go after him?" "Nah, he's long gone…" one of the solders laughed to himself. "Think we should call an ambulance?" "Wait a minute or two more, he may still be alive." At that comment all 4 erupted in laughter. They never did call an ambulance, he skipped ahead to the coroner, and they didn't want to bother wasting any more time with the former govonors's body. 

Yuffie looked like she had seen a ghost. Her face was white and her breathing was heavy. Vincent looked bored. "The guard's parent's" he began. "were over there in that dinner." He pointed to a diner across the street. In the window of exited onlookers were two faces stone cold and calm. "The boy's parents were over there." He gestured to a empty hardware store. "The father is actually carrying a shotgun on him. He said that if the mayor got up, he would go out and finish the job himself. They offered me 100,000 Gill. I took the job for 25,000. I wasn't greedy. I had money, all I wanted was justice for those it was denied to. I never liked killing… I just seemed to be what I was best at, like you are with stealing." 

Yuffie sharply turned to him and spat out, "There is a huge difference between stealing materia and murdering people!" 

"What about all those helpless travelers you robbed blind? Without their materia how long do you think they lasted against the monsters in the wilderness?" 

Yuffie was in a state of shock, the thought of all those poor saps being attacked by a ruthless horde of beasts right after she had lifted all their materia never occurred to her. She just dropped to her knees, her eyes filling with tears. "It never occurred to me…" 

"I'm sorry I said that. Besides, the monsters in the areas you stalked were all pretty weak. I'm sure they were all able to make it up a tree or something to safety until they could get back to civilization. I mean when we met you, we were swatting monsters left and right and they gave us no problem." Vincent gently put his right hand on her shoulder and gave her a gentle squeeze. 

She slowly stood up and said, "Come on Vincent, its your guilt I'm here to relieve, not the opposite way around." And for a moment there was a blinding light, and they were in the middle of a diner. 

"This is maybe 1 ½ hours later, I had changed on a rooftop, I'm waiting for my money." Yuffie's gaze dropped onto the figure of Vincent sitting at a booth in the back of the shop, reading a newspaper. Just as turned to the next page, two men walk through the entrance. One carrying a briefcase in his right hand the second man trailing behind him. Vincent stands up and greets them then the three sit down, and order their drinks. The two men Yuffie now recognizes as the fathers of the two dead men. They quickly finish their drinks and hastily leave, eager to get back to their families. Looking over this shoulder Vincent quickly opens the case, and mentally counts the money, then smiles to himself. "They gave me 60,000gill extra. Over double the negotiated price." Vincent quickly paid his tab and made his way to the back door. "I rented a room in this building on the 5th floor. That's where I lived and worked." 

Yuffie and the shadow of Vincent quickly followed him upstairs, when he reached the top of the stairs, he began whistleing some random jig. And quietly made his way into the darkened room. Yuffie who was still in the doorway noticed a movement from further down the hall, and a man in a black suit and darkened sunglasses emerged carrying a submachine gun. As the lights flicked on Vincent gave a short call. Glancing inside Yuffie saw 3 men, two similarly dressed men carrying submachine guns and a third man in the center of the room sitting in a chair from Vincent's table. The third man seemed different, He was wearing the same type suit as the other two, but he seemed older. His poise made him seem more patient and more learned. The other two men flanked him; he was sitting slowly taking puffs out of a cigarette. 

"Vincent Horatio Valentine…" he began. "Its been nearly a twelve years since I've last met a Valentine." As he stopped speaking the man behind Vincent lunged forward and drove the butt of his rifle into the back of Vincen't neck. Vincnet fell over limp. 

In the few minutes that followed, lots of orders were issued. Vincent was searched, his two pistols lay on the table. His house was torn apart, and two other weapons, a large rifle and another pistol were found, along with 3 large sums of money. All his money was thrown haplessly on the bed, and his pistols on the table. Vincent was sat down in another chair opposite side his table of the smoking man. "They were Turks, first generation." Vincent whispered to Yuffie. 'Must have been' Yuffie thought to herself. 'I wouldn't have noticed the one behind us unless he moved while we were still watching.' 

"Wake him…" the one in charge said as he put his cigarette out on the ashtray. And with that the closest man pulled a viol out from his jacket pocket, removed the top and waved it before Vincent's nose. Vincent's head and body jerked in response, and he was wide-awake in moments. 

"What do you want?" was all he could say. 

"Mr. Vincent Valentine, you are hereby charged with the murder of four governors of the city of Midgar. As a result of your actions, you shall be executed right here. Your money and weapons will be confiscated by the state of Midgar. And your family, your actions, and you in general will be forgotten…" With that final statement the three other Turks raised their gun and leveled them on Vincent. "However" he began. 

Vincent looked nervous. He wasn't sweating as much as Yuffie would have expected him to, but his eyes were constantly darting back and forth between the four men. Then his eyes settled back on center-man. "However…" he repeated. 

"However, the Shinra Corporation is on the lookout for unnaturally skilled individuals for its new mobile division. You, by chance, have shown some skill. And if you can prove yourself, and work for us, then the state of Midgar will forgive you transgressions. If you fail, or decline… well I think you get the picture." The three men just chuckled as they flipped the safety's off their guns. 

"What do I need to do?" The man began to stand, and the other three motioned for Vincent to do likewise. He picked up one of Vincent's pistols from the table, the Outsider. Vincent followed the man as he slowly walked to the window. Throwing the window open, the city was alive with noise. They had to yell to each other, it was that noise. The man emptied the outsider of its six cartridges and gave the pistol and one cartridge to Vincent. 

"The street light in front of us, hit the bulb." A brief bang rang out and suddenly the street-light in front of them fell dark. "Now the next one" Another brief bang and the lights in the street light two blocks away went dark. "The next", then "The next", then "The next." Five bullets were wasted in that manner. "That type gun isn't meant for long range shooting, is that what you used to kill the governor earlier today?" 

Vincent frowned. "How did you know?" 

"His body went straight to the coroners today, it was surprising, we were expecting the bullet to come from a sniper rifle, not a hand gun. Tell me, are you as good with a rifle as you are with a pistol?" 

"Better…" was his only response. 

"One last shot." With that he gave Vincent the final bullet. 

"The next light?" 

"No, closer." He pointed down the street. "See that family there? The father, the mother, the daughter… So pretty, spinning around for her parents. I feel so sorry for her parents. Their daughter is about to get shot." 

Vincent just turned his head and stared at him. "What?" 

"What?!?" Yuffie screamed out. "Vincent! You don't shoot her do you?" 

"Just keep watching" his shadow commanded. 

"You're going to shoot that little girl. You don't have to kill her… unless you want to… You simply have to hit something on her person." 

"No." Was his only response, and three submachine guns were again leveled at his body. 

"You don't have a choice in the manner. You can walk away and die, miss the shot and die, or you can take the shot… maybe you'll kill her, maybe you'll wound her, or perhaps she will be just fine." The man dropped to knees in front of the window and pulled out some binoculars. "Take the shot Mr. Valentine." 

Vincent just looked across the faces of the other three men, they all just gave his cold stares as replies. Then he dropped to one knee with his pistol clamped in his hands. He carefully studied the girl. 

'She must be six, or seven, maybe eight. Blonde, fair skin like her parents, a little chubby, wearing a skirt, and a button down shirt. She's trying to get her parent's attention by spinning in circles in front of them. Unsuccessfully too.' He thought to himself. His hand began to shake, and his breathing became more shallow… 'No… I have to control myself… If not for me, than for the girl… For the girl… No…this isn't right… This is the coward's way out… I can' t risk her life… What has she done?!?!' His hand began to shake worse than before. His entire being was rattling. 

"Careful Mr. Valentine, we don't want any mistakes." 

He calmed himself. Yuffie just looked on in horror, as did Vincent's shadow. He began taking deep breaths, and his hands stopped shaking. 'shes also wearing a…. tiara…. A tall thin one… I could his that, its far enough away from her head, but if I make even a slight miscalculation shes gone. And the way shes spinning like that, I'll have to be careful with my timing…' His body became much more tense, his breath picked up again, and slowly he began to squeeze the trigger. 

"Vincent?" Yuffie questioned the motionless figure as if he could hear her. 

"Do you know what I'm aiming for?" The shadow asked Yuffie. 

"The tiara, but its so small. Tell me he makes the shot!" 

"We'll see…we'll see…" 

And at that moment, Vincent finally took the shot. A loud bang seemed to fill their ears for an eternity, as Vincent dropped the gun, and practically jumped out the window to see what had happened to the girl. She was still there, still spinning. And her tiara was still intact. Surely if the bullet had hit near them, the parents or the girl would have noticed. But she was still spinning. Yuffie saw this and felt an immediate relief, but she did'nt see the tiara. 

"So you did manage to hit the tiara?" 

"No, take a closer look." 

"What, but if you didn't hit it, then they're going to kill you." 

The rest of their conversation was drowned out by laughter. Yuffie turned around and saw Vincent. He had doubled over, and could not stop laughing. Tears were coming out of his eyes. Yuffie had never seen anything like it. Vincent finally stopped laughing, and lay on the ground. "Well, seems like I failed… Looks like I'm dead now." With that, the stretched out on the floor and gave a heavy sigh. 

The old man just smiled at him sheepishly, and began to chuckle to himself. "Stand up Vincent, you have lots to learn." 

"Learn about what? Aren't you going to kill me?" he smilingly said. 

"First lesson kid, learn about your equipment." With that he flicked a small cylindrical metal object towards Vincent. From the floor he caught it and examined it. It was one of his cartridges. "No offense kid, but you were shooting blanks." The old man turned around and began to walk off, but quickly turned around one last time. "Oh ya, if you ever point a gun at my grand daughter again, I'll kill you. Should you choose to join us you'll get your money and weapons back." With that the old man turned around again and signaled the others to follow. The first two passed without even looking at Vincent, the third passed by his head stopped. Quickly unhooked his submachine gun and in one daft movement bashed Vincent on the forehead. Yuffie just winced as she saw it happen. Vincent was out cold a second time that day. The four men quickly gathered up his money, and guns and quickly made their way out, but not before dropping a small envelop on the unconscious Vincent's chest. The three Turks loaded every thing into their car and drove straight to Shinra HQ. The old man, crossed the street and greeted his son, his son's wife and his grand daughter. Then he treated them to a wonderful dinner, they never figured out why he asked them to wait on that particular corner for him. 

When Vincent finally awoke he tore open the letter and began reading. 

To Whom It May Concern:   
You have been selected to undergo a rigorous, but worthwhile training. Your various skills have earned you a place amongst the best and the brightest of all fields. Should you choose to accept this invitation, please report to the Shinra Head Quarters in Midgar. 

Scribbled underneath the disappointingly short letter was a small note from the old man, 'We have all your weapons too. Money can be earned anywhere, but something tells me you'll want this rifle back. For the record, this was simply a test. Never expect to have to kill someone without a reason. And we will never ask you kill children. Join us, I could make you into a legend.' 

"So they gave you a choice, of whether or not to join?" 

"Was'nt much of a choice, it was either join, or be killed the next time you set foot in an area controlled by the Shinra… Besides I wanted my stuff back." 

"So you joined for the money?" 

"No, I wanted that rifle back. It was a memory of my father, it was the Death Penalty." As they spoke the other version of Vincent retreated to the shower, where he took a quick shower and got dressed for his trip to Shinra HQ. 

"And just like that you joined?" 

"Pretty much…" 

"And that girl?" 

"…" Vincent Turned away. "I would have killed her probably… Even now, I'm not sure if I'm a good enough shot as to hit the tip of that tiara with a gun that has as little accuracy as that." 

"They pushed you into that corner, they knew you'd take that shot. That was the point." 

"It was my weakness they preyed on, and they had it. I took the shot because I was a coward." 

"That's not true, it takes a lot of courage to do something like that. You have to realize, that the entire thing was a test, you had no choice in the matter. He knew you'd shoot for the tiara, he said it himself, he was related to the girl. He knew you'd take the shot because it was a good one. You could have hit it. You nailed that light bulb six blocks away, you could have hit that tiara thing. That's why he had you do it. He worked you up to it. He wanted to see if you had the nerve to take a risk not only in yourself but whether or not you were confident enough to take others along with you. That's all. " 

Vincent just eyed her, "How would you know that?" 

"Some tribes in the south of Wutai have similar induction ceremonies. They have you perform a task, and if you fail they kill you and a family member. That's how they separate the brave from the weak." 

Vincent just stared at her for a moment, as his double began packing his suitcases. "I still feel bad about it. I opened fire on a little girl." 

"You know that man's name now don't you? Lets look her up when we get back to Midgar. She can't be more than 40 or 45 years old. And I guarantee you; she will be more pissed at her granddad than at you. You'll see." 

"Think so?" 

"Know so." She beamed a giant smile at Vincent, and he had no choice but to smile back. "Soo…. What happens after this?" she inquired. 

"I train to be a Turk." 

"ohhhh, can I see?" 

"Next door down." 

"grrr…. grumble grumble ungracious…" And with that the scene faded, and Yuffie stalked off into the darkness in search of a way out. 

Vincent just smirked as he watched her stalk off. 'I hope you're still out there somewhere, because I really want to apologize.' With that thought he disappeared and joined the other shadows of Vincent waiting to join into one.

* * *

NA: Definetly did'nt come off as cool as I thought it would. Actually this oneis kinda disappointing. Ohwel… 


	9. Age 20 to 21

20-21

* * *

Yuffie skipped along in the darkness, then suddenly she was back where she started, back in the Shinra office. Looking around Chaos was back at the desk in the head chair with his feet up on the table. He said nothing, he just stared up at the ceiling. Yuffie took a few steps forward and casually asked, "sup?" 

Chaos looked down for a moment at Yuffie, the resumed staring at the ceiling. "Vincent says that when you finish the next portal we can all visit take a visit to what is now beyond even legend." 

"So… We're going to see your cool extraction contraption that kill you or something like that?" 

"Yes, so hop along and go watch Vincent lose some more loved ones." 

Yuffie frowned, then threw her head back in laughter as she and proceeded to the next door. 'Least I can get on with this without him bothering me,' she thought to herself.

* * *

After entering a few yards into the doorway, Yuffie froze. She had heard something, what she was not sure, but it definitely was not her imagination. As she listened intently the sound came again. Wind. Suddenly from off to her side a gust of wind swept up. Mixed into the strong gale was snow and dirt, and for a moment her view was obscured. Then she suddenly found herself at the Gaea Highlands past the snow plains north of Icicle Inn. Where they first were when Cloud gave Barret the black material to hold. Vincent stood at the edge of a cliff where he was so few weeks before, except they were alone now. Yuffie opened her mouth to say something, but the great winds and drowned her voice out. But, as Vincent turned to face her, the winds seemed to die down, and so did their volume. He began to speak. 

"This place was so turbulent. The bare rock-faces, the gusting winds, the deep drops… Most people would not be able to stand it here. There are a thousand and one things to concentrate on, each demanding attention. Through caution or annoyance, interference or wonder, this place distracts the mind. It was the only place I could stand and not feel the demons pressing my mind. This place equally distracted them. When we were waiting here with Barret, while Cid, Tifa and Cloud went further down the path… for awhile… I felt… normal… The constant flush my mind was under was gone. This place is naturally too distracting for me to return to my laments, and even more so I embraced it. I just watched the gusts of wind, tracked them through their snow and soil content. I completely forgot about my arm. For the first time since my operation I felt slightly normal. Of course, after Sephiroth, tricked Barret into following him further into the heights, I forced myself to concentrate, and we followed after him." 

"I remember that cause Cait Sith and I were following the light of Red XIII's tail, and he was biting onto your cape so he could follow. How were you able to find your way through that Vincent?" 

"The elements do not bother me as they do most, surely you must have noticed that as we traveled through the snow fields." 

"Yea, you carried me when I fell." There was a brief moment of silence. "Why are we here anyways?" Yuffie asked. 

"Simply put, I liked it here. It is a shame this place was destroyed when the weapons emerged." With that Vincent turned around and stared out beyond the cliffs, there was too much debris floating about to see the floor but that did not matter. Yuffie could understand why he was fond of this place. It kept you on your toes. 

"Vincent," Yuffie began, "Show me what happened after you decided to join the Turks." 

Vincent slowly opened his eyes, and extended his arms to his side, then jumped off the ledge. "VINCENT!" Yuffie yelled as she dashed forward to peer over the ledge. As she looked over two strong arms pushed up and grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her over. For a moment she went wide-eyed then quickly closed her eyes out of fear. Seconds passed and she felt the wind die down, she could not feel anything with the exception of her thumping heart, she was so scared. She could feel herself curled up in a ball and a cold feeling began to spread all across her left side. Finally she willed herself to open her eyes, and they were in the lobby to someplace… She had never been there, but there was construction all over the place. They were putting in kiosks and shops, and information centers. A few feet ahead of her was Vincent. His back was to her and he was leaning against a pillar. Slowly she began breathing again and stood up. 

"Vincent, what was-" 

"We're in the first Shinra HQ, just as they began furnishing. The offices and science areas were already finished, this area is just for show." Sure enough Yuffie watched as some people passed through the lobby and went straight to the elevators in the back. Just then, she heard the automatic doors slide open with a 'swish' and the younger form of Vincent she had just seen walked through the doors with a tired look on his face and an envelope trapped in a death-grip in his hand. He released the envelope and gave it to the lady at the kiosk, she immediately directed him to the elevators in the back. Vincent shifted his weight off the pillar and likewise began walking towards the elevator. Yuffie ran to catch up. 

Vincent was beyond excited for what was happening to him. She watched him pace back and forth in front of the elevators for half a minute as he reread his letter, before he realized he had not pushed the up button. A few seconds later an elevator opened and Vincent stepped inside. Right before the doors connected a binder found its way in between them. Vincent moaned as the doors slowly opened again, he was getting very impatient with this. 

But that was soon forgotten as a drop dead gorgeous brunette wearing a lab-coat, glasses and carrying a handful of binders stepped into the elevator. 

As she was fiddleing with them she nearly dropped her full bundle but Vincent was to catch all that had fallen. 

"Thank you so much." She said. 

"My pleasure." Vincent replied as he tried to get a firm grip on the number of binders. 'How many did she have here? 15? 20?' "Let me carry these for you." Vincent said as he further tried to stable the stack of binders in his hands. 

"Lets see… 20th floor." She quickly punched the button and turned to Vincent. "Here let me help you with that" 

[longest elevator ride ever!!!!!] 

"Wait get the top its slipping." 

The next thing you know they were both on the ground laughing attempting to stack the scattered binders. Yuffie and Vincent were watching the entire thing. 

"Thank you so much for helping me" 

"Ahh, don't thank me, I dropped the binders in the first place." 

"I wasn't doing so well by myself if you remember." 

"Granted… Say, what do you need all these for anyways?" 

"Hmm? Well its somewhat classified… but I'll tell you anyways. It's what me and my partner are hoping will open up a whole new field energy research and development. We're not sure what to call it, but we discovered while inspecting some deep earth drilling stations that were searching for oil fields, a new substance. It's this light blue liquid. Riddled with energy, it even glows in the dark. Anyways, at first the drillers were not sure what to think of it. So we were called in to determine what it was. We began with initial samplings to determine its makeup, but every result our tests turned out were completely inconclusive. In recent history we've seen nothing like this in science, except in one case." She left off. 

"One case?" 

"Materia…" 

"Materia like the stones that allow the user to performs feats of magic?" 

"The same. Anyways, the energy waves given off by this new substance match that emitted when material is used in the real world." 

"So they are somehow linked?" 

"Yes. Furthermore, there used to be mining projects for Materia crystals, the and the ground around it usually was saturated in a some biological waste. So we separated some of this liquid into a jar of Earth and after a month a similar waste was produced." 

"So… whats the link?" 

At this comment she frowned for a moment. "Think about it… Materia gives off the same energy as the liquid and the areas Materia is found in is saturated with the dead form of the liquid." 

"So Materia is the compounded form of the liquid?" 

"Exactly!" 

"That means you could be able to tap the liquid of power like humans do with Materia, but how?" 

She just smiled at him. "Very, very carefully…" From the breast pocket of her lab-coat she pulled out a small viol of glowing sky blue liquid. "It took us two weeks to extract that much, but it will power a city block for under an hour. I believe it can be applied on a larger scale in a much faster process, that's what our presentation today is about." 

"But aren't you worried about the effects of this? I mean you really don't know what this substance is." Vincent began. 

"I told you, in recent history we've seen nothing like this… However… In ancient history instances like this have been documented… Have you ever heard the myth of the life-stream?" 

"Who hasn't? the legendary river of the dead. The essence of each living creature is reduced to nothing and returns to the…. Highly potent and powerful life-stream… You believe it's the same thing?" 

"Not exactly… But that's what we want to find out about." 

"One myth about the life-stream I've heard, If you dive into it, It will take your life, or grant you the power to converse with the deceased. Also that it is a conscious things and devours all dead, and that it created monsters to plague man…." 

"Enough! Let me finish!" She cried out exited and laughing. "Everything we know about it is myth, but there are ruins, and temples that may help us understand its origin. That's what this meeting is about. We're going to seek funding for some research projects, we're going to these temples to try to find out what the ancient civilization thought this was, and if the life-stream is in fact the substance we've found. After we've decided what this is, then we'll decide whether drilling for it is a good idea or not." She just smiled and glared at him. 

Vincent gave her a cross look and glanced back to the viol. "But that substance, the derivative of the life-stream, what are you calling it? And is it safe?" 

"Its connected to Materia and in the ancient language Materia means power of the earth, so we thought we'd call it Mako-" 

"The power of man… clever…" 

"You understand the ancient language? Very impressive!" 

"My parents made sure I had a long and thoroughly boring education." 

"Haha, I'm sorry to hear that. But I'm sure it has served you well. Anyways, this substance is far from safe. The original form is relatively safe, it remained intact after being burned, compressed, and fired upon. However if its exposed to heat, and when I mean heat, I mean we're walking on the sun heat, or if it comes in contact with a large high voltage source… well lets just say you'll see the results for a ways. We blew up a bathtub of that stuff, and it left burnt dirt for nearly one and one half miles around. In any case, the Mako is much more unstable. Its vulnerable to explosions, medium voltage, extremely high heats, very high compression and who knows what else. But the resulting explosion is not nearly as large as with the raw material." 

"That's slightly reassuring, but it is still dangerous then." 

"But not nearly as much in smaller doses." 

"What about exposure to it?" 

"We did some testing on the local wild-life. Short-term contact had no effect, however long term contact seemed to kill the feeling in the exposed area. In fusing the animals with small doses seemed to strengthen them, but large amounts killed them… well not really killed them, but put them in a coma…" 

"That's better?" 

"No, but for one worker's husband its all we could say… During the initial phases when he was gathering some samples for us, he slipped in, we had to pull him after lassoing him. His brain was severed from its nervous system, where or how we don't know, but we're calling it Mako poisoning." She looked away for a moment, a sad look on her face. 

"Hey, are you OK?" 

"I'll be fine, I just need to get ready for this presentation. What about you? What brings you to Shinra Inc?" 

"Me? Huh… I'm not too sure yet. All I know is I got this letter and I'm supposed to go to floor 34." He intentionally left out the part about being a sniper and being assaulted by Shinra's private badasses a few hours earlier. 

"Level 34 huh, that's…. Special Tactics and Assets. That's… Kinda scary." She said with a laugh. 

"Well I'm just a no one from the slums, I'm not too sure what they want me for…" 

"umm hmm… a no one from the slums then… And you have no prior affiliation with Shinra?" 

"None." 

"Well then, I'm sure you're going somewhere fast, they don't pull just anyone into special weapons and tactics, Mr…" 

"Valentine, Vincent Valentine." 

"Well then Mr. Valentine, It's a pleasure to meet you, and this..." the elevator doors swished open "Is my floor." She quickly picked up the now neatly stacked binders and began to walk, a black haired man with glasses likewise wearing a labcoat seemed to be waiting for her at the end of the hall. He began walking towards them. 

"Wait!" he called out, and she turned around for looking at him, only the parts of her face above her nose could be seen. "You never told me your name." 

"Its Lucrecia, Lucrecia Mayer." 

"It's a pleasure meeting you ms. Mayer." 

"Likewise Mr. Valentine." 

Vincent stepped back through the doors and the elevators and as they closed he heard the man who was approaching speak with her. "Hey Lucrecia, who was that guy?" 

"Hm? Him? Just met him, don't worry about it Hojo…" 

Then the doors closed and the elevator began its ascent to the 34 th floor. "Lucrecia, her name is Lucrecia." 

"And that's where you two first met!" Yuffie chimed in. 

"Yes Yuffie, that's where it began, and for a period of time ended." 

A few moments later the elevator opened again on the 34 th level, and they all stepped out. It was dark in the hallway the elevator opened up into, the lights were dimmed. Immediately in front of the elevators was a glass screen with two line indentions in its center, implying that a part that would have been the doorway. As soon as he stepped forward a booming female voice came over the PA system. "State your identity and purpose." 

"Um… Vincent Valentine, I'm not really sure about the second part." 

There were a couple seconds of static, then the elevator behind him suddenly slammed shut and the same voice spat out in its monotone voice, "Unregistered Identity. Defensive parameters initiated. Have a nice day." Shutters on the wall to his right and left opened up and a white fume began pumping out, slowly covering the floor and gently growing higher. 

"What the?!?!? No! No! they told me to come! Open up! Open up Now!" He screamed out. And started pounding on the doorway. The fumes began to rise to his ankles, and he began kicking the doorway, Still it rose higher. Quickly Vincent changed tactics and ran to the side, with his bare hands he tried to push the shutters closed. They closed a little but he did'nt have enough leverage. So he started kicking in a downward angle, the fumes rising past his thighs. On his first attempt he stumbled and almost fell, to steady himself he put his hands on the glass wall and wall on the side of the elevator, when he pressed to the sides before his next kick he felt something shift. Turning back to glass wall he firmly pressed it again, and could feel it shift. Then he backed up a step and kicked the wall, the entire section fell to the ground and shattered. Then the shutters closed and the fumes quickly dissipated as then it spread into the new uncontaminated region. Slowly he proceeded through the space where the glass wall used to be, and looked back. Originally he assumed that the center section with the indentions was the doorway. It was a simple trick easily escaped from, the other two sections to it's sides were just loose sheets of glass. 

After examining and pushing over the other sheet on the opposite side, he began walking down the hall. The older Vincent and Yuffie just watched. At the end of the hall was a dais, and on it was a knight stick and a pistol. When he picked them both up a doorway to his right slid open. A bright orange light streamed into the room, and Vincent had to temporarily shield his eyes. Then with a weapon in either hand entered the doorway. It slid closed behind them. 

"What is this?" asked a concerned Yuffie. 

"My second test. Throughout this entire ordeal I will be monitored, and my skills probed. There are five more trials after this. That particular trial was a joke designed to weed out the dimmest of their potential Turks. In the next area I had to dodge and slip my way through a passageway of retracting blades, spikes, and flame spouts. Besides the trial you just witnessed, it was probably the easiest of the six. Its presence is to test my mobility, and my ability to think on my feet. In the third trial I'll fight 6 knights in full plate armor, my bullets were nearly useless against them… nearly. In the fourth stage I stalked, and was stalked through a labrinth with six trained ninjas. Afterwards for the fifth trial they released six tigers into the labriynth. In the sixth and final stage I was given a shotgun and locked in a room with a smaller dragon." 

"A smaller dragon?" Yuffie inquired with a grimace. 

"A regular dragon… but smaller… nearly as strong as their larger selves, but much faster." Vincent elaborated. "I discovered the dragon's weak hide on accident. He had just knocked me over, and was atop me about to chew my head off when the shotgun went off in it's stomach killing it." He ended. 

"Intense…" 

"To say the least." 

"They told me afterwards, that there were very few who made it past the ninjas, and fewer still who actually fought the dragon. And they mentioned that they had remote control poison capsules on each animal, and that while each trial had the potential to become a complete bloodbath, they were still able to maintain a certain level of control." 

"That's reassuring." 

"Very. Anyways, after my trial, they explained the concept of the Turks to me. We were a highly skilled group for industrial and international espionage. We would serve as the eyes and ears of the Shinra on an international and local basis as it moved from conglomerate to world power. We would be trained as spies, shinobis, soldiers, scientists, electricians, translators, demolitionists, insurrectionists, diplomats, businessmen, tradesmen, and any other job form that would have helped serve our purpose." 

"That must have been intense." 

"Its usually a highly compressed three year program. But I already had many of the requisite physical skills. I was a master of physical self defense, and was familiar with most weapon types. When I worked in a gang in Midgar I learned about machines, when I united them I learned diplomacy. I already knew how to read people, I could tell when you were lying, and knew what to look for in people to determine their objectives, and purpose. In one year they were able to compress the remaining knowledge and teach it to me. Back then the operations of the Turks were much larger than they are now. There must have been about 12 agents on International assignments at one time, eight working local at one time, 15 working as industrial and corporate spies, and 15 working in information gathering and storage. The last fifteen also included our bosses and the Turks who trained the newer generation. Now it seems like their operations and working number of Turks have shrunk. I suppose that's because there are not too many markets left to conquer." Vincent broke off and went back to the elevator that immediately opened as he approached. Yuffie was quick to follow. 

When they stepped into the elevator it quickly began to rise again. Yuffie started, "So… Vinnie… Where are we off to now?" 

"You'll see…" As soon as he said that the elevator doors stopped and they exited into what seemed to be a sparing room. Yuffie looked behind them when she heard the doors click closed, but the elevator was now gone. There were four people in the room, three males and one female. Two of the males were sitting Indian-style across from each other in the center of the room. One of them was obviously Vincent, the second man had short brown hair and blue eyes. The other two were watching from the side of the room, with a large weapons rack behind them. The woman was much shorter than all three men; she had brown eyes and dark red hair. The third man had graying hair with dark patches all over. After a moment, he passed two katanas to the woman. She promptly walked in between Vincent and the brown haired man and dropped the swords in front of them. After quickly giving a glance to the brown haired man she returned to the old man's side. 

The old man looked at both the others, and quietly said "Go." 

Immediately both men were on their feet, the brown haired man's sword was unsheathed. Vincent's was not. Quickly he moved in to strike. Vincent quickly blocked, but when he bare blade and the sheathed blade met the bare one cut through the wooden sheath until it met the blade. In a quick fluid motion Vincent pulled his own sword free of his sheath and moved to attack his enemy's back. The brown haired man tried to react, but the still attached sheath impaired his blade movement. And he was quickly knocked to the ground when Vincent used the hilt of his blade on the brown haired man's shoulder. The older man began to clap, and the young woman rushed to the other man's side. 

"Very good Vincent, but I don't expect that will work a second time on Carter, will it Carter?" 

"No sir." Carter responded. 

"Good man." He said with a smile. "All three of you are nearing the end of your training. And as all you know part of your training is to participate in a real life operation, independent of your instructors." He eyed all three of them before he began speaking again. "Yesterday, a most unfortunate event took place. Seems a motorcyclist managed to moon the president while he was on his way to the head building in his limousine. A noteworthy stunt, but the young man was tracked. Seems he works as a waiter at a bar frequented by… a bar owned in fact by the Grey Death. As you all know the Grey Death is one of the many mob groups that have been popping up as of late. One of the more dangerous ones as a matter of fact. Do we have any question so far?" 

Vincent stepped forward. "Are any of the known members of Grey Suns connected to the old gangs that used to roam Midgar?" 

"They have been more-or-less wiped out. If there are any members of the old gang left, they are probably still underground. The city of Midgar is still paying the bounties that it put on their heads three years ago. But these people are not gang-bangers, they are stone cold killers. Most of them used to hunt the gangs, and until recently were paid to do nothing by the city as politicians. You're jobs will be simple. Take a group of 15 soldiers and eliminate any and all opposition and resistance you come across when you enter the bar. Questions?" 

The red haired woman stepped forward. "Permission to speak sir." 

The old man smiled for a moment. "You can drop the formality Carla, you are no longer a part of the guard contingent." 

"Yes si-… Yes… I was wondering, what if we come across no resistance?" 

"Well then you'll just have to enter in such a way that you do. I do not want very many survivors. Understood?" 

All three just nodded their heads. The old man smiled once more and exited the room. Then the three Turks in training began speaking to one another. 

Carter started, "Finally a real mission, soon we'll be full Turks and we won't have to deal with all this training crap anymore." 

"Shut up Carter, we may never see each other again after we are given our assignments." Said Carla 

"Would you two shut up, we need to focus. Forget where we will be in the future, if we don't planning this out, we may not have one." Said Vincent with an annoyed tone. 

"You're right. We will have 24 hours until the assault is to take place. So we should start planning. We can probably get the plans for the building from city hall…" 

"And the Domestic Threat Assessment department will probably have records on who has entered and exited that bar for awhile. So we'll have a general idea on how many people are there…"

* * *

Yuffie and Vincent were observing the entire thing.   
"And there begins my first mission under the Turks." Vincent said. 

"And how did you do?" Yuffie asked. 

Suddenly there was a flash and instead of a sparring room they were now standing in the center of a large bar. On two sides there was a bar, on another side there was a small stage with doors leading into the back, and on the remaining side was another entryway leading into the lobby with had stairs going up and an entrance to the street. Inside must have been twenty men sitting at the tables, another 4 behind the bar and close to seven men running back and forth waiting on tables. One waiter in particular was carrying several dirty dishes back to the kitchen, as he walked through the doorway to the side of the stage, he suddenly dropped all his plates and began backing away from the door. All eyes were on him. From the doorway, Vincent quickly stepped forward and batted the young man on the side of the head with his pistol, in his other hand was a large plastic bag. Emerging from the doorway on the opposite side of the stage was Carter, and Carla quickly stepped into view from onstage. In a booming voice Vincent announced themselves. 

"The three of us…" In a provoking voice, "ALONE… Are here as servants to great city of Midgar and are hereby placing all customers, employees and anyone else unlucky enough be here at this time under arrest. The room burst into laughter, until Carter shot once in the air to get their attention again. All eyes turned to Vincent. He dumped the plastic bag he was holding on the ground, about 30 pairs of hand-cuffs fell out. "If you will all come forward in an orderly manner, we will proceed to place you under arrest." Vincent nodded to his companions, Carla lowered her rifle, and Carter holstered his pistol. Vincent put his own pistol away. 'What do I have to do to provoke this group into attacking,' he thought to himself. 

And as if on cue on man's hand dived into his jacket and pulled out a pistol. But before he could fire a shot all three Turks had backed out of view. And from the two doorways, the stage, and the entryway from the lobby half a dozen small dark green cylinders with blue stripes were thrown out into the bar. After the series of flash-bangs had gone off the three Turks accompanied by 5 guards emerged from the stage side, and 10 guards entered from the lobby guns blazing. Most of the men inhabiting the bar had gone straight for their weapons, but were still somewhat blinded from the flash-bangs. They were easily picked off. There were a few survivors on the main floor, and most of the bartenders had ducked for cover. The guards began placing all of them under arrest. The three Turks ran into the lobby, and began making their way upstairs. Stairway led to a balcony that overlooked the lobby. There there were two doors. They knew that one doorway led to a small series of hotel rooms. They were not interested in that area. The guards would examine that area later. The second doorway led to who knows what. In the original plans there were three rooms in a row. The first two were equal in size, and the third was a little less than the first two combined in size. 

All three Turks were settled around this door. Carla was on one side, Vincent on the other and Carter behind him. They silently nodded to each other and Carla moved slightly from her position with her back to the wall and slammed the but of her rifle into a spot next to the door-knob, then returned to her position. Vincent quickly leaned into the doorway with his pistols in hand and made two quick shots before he returned to his position. He had just killed two men that were across the room guarding the doorway into the next room. Then Carter quickly dashed around Vincent and performed a headfirst dive and roll into the room. There was a man with a submachine gun at the end of the room, but before he could take aim, carter had shot him 3 times. The other two then entered the room, and they quickly checked it over. The room was bare, a table, a mini fridge in the corner, some chairs TV. Vincent had made two head shots, and Carter had missed once then hit the man in chest twice. After they finished checking the room Carter began moving towards the next doorway. 

"Wait!" Yelled Carla. "You saw how those two were guarding the doorway, they'll be expecting us to enter through there." 

"What do you recommend then?" Vincent asked. 

From behind her back she pulled out two cylindrical objects, they looked somewhat like the flash-bangs they had used earlier, except instead of blue stripes these had red ones. 

In the next room there were five men waiting, each behind some piece of furniture or appliance. There were two behind the couch adjacent to the doorway, another two behind the table in the middle of the room they had flipped over, and one had moved the water cooler and mini-fridge in front of the doorway, all of them had their weapons pointed at the doorway. They knew their compatriots in the other room were dead, they would have signaled or something if they were still alive. Whoever was coming after them must have been very good. They had only heard two shots followed up a very short series of sub machine gun fire. They were all tensed up, just waiting for the door to open. The walls were pretty thin, they could hear the invaders walking around on the other side, and they could hear some speaking, but they could not make it out. 

Then everything went silent for awhile. The men at the couch could hear two small tinks from the other room. The man closer to the wall put his head to the wall to try to listen in on what they were doing. Then the wall just exploded. The man closer to the wall was thrown across the room dead, the other man a few feet, screaming in pain. Two men emerged from the smoke and rubble of the grenades firing their pistols at the two men vulnerable from the other side of the table. The two men quickly jumped to the other side and began returning fire. 

Suddenly the door burst open and a red haired woman wearing a black suit, and carrying a huge ass rifle quickly entered and took the two men by surprise. There was only one man left, but they did not know that. The single man still hiding behind the water cooler and mini-fridge was petrified. His friends were dead, that woman had a huge rifle, and there were two other men on the other side of the room with guns. There was only one thing he could do. His aim at the other two men was partially cut off by the flipped table in the middle of the room. So as quietly as he could he opened the fridge door, he could use that for some cover, then he quickly flung it open and from behind it opened fire on the woman. From five shots he only hit her once. When Vincent and Carter heard the shots they began running towards her, but it was too late. She was hit in the top of her left shoulder, the force of the bullet twister her around, and in pain her hands clenched tighter on her rifle. The rifle began firing, and it left a trail of bullet holes on the wall on half the room low to the ground. The man had stopped firing. He just looked at the bullet holes in the wall, then he looked at the bullet holes in the fridge door, then he pushed the door forward a bit and examined the holes in himself. He fell forward slumped on the fridge door and died. 

Vincent moved towards the body and made sure he was dead. Carter was examining Carla's wound. "The bullet is still in there." He announced. "We should get her out of here, like now." 

"Damnit Carter I'm fine, now help me up and give me my rifle." She tried to support herself but let out a pained scream as she fell backwards. 

"No, he is right. Carter go downstairs and get some of the guards, call the medics then we will move her downstairs." 

"Right." And with that he ran out the room to gather some guards. Vincent reloaded his pistols and put them both back on the dual holsters in his jacket. The he bent down and picked up one of the dead men's sub machine guns, and after quickly searching his body found a couple of clips. 

"Vincent, what are you doing?" inquired Carla. 

"Finishing this." He replied after reloading the submachine gun. Then he proceeded to the doorway, and walked into the final chamber. She called out to him to stop and wait for the others, but he simply ignored her dropping his radio behind him. 

This final chamber looked more like a throne than a mobster's hideout. Along the sides of the room were 5 pairs of pillars. At the end of the room was a raised platform and in center of the platform center was a golden seat with red cushions. The room was badly lit, the only area fully illuminated was the throne at the end. Behind the throne was a stairway leading to the roof of the building. 

"I would like to congratulate you… Few people have your… Skill…" a voice said from somewhere off to the side. And from the shadows a figure wearing a gray suit emerged and slowly sat down in his throne. 

"I did not make it here on my own…" was Vincent's reply, as he slowly walked forward glancing to his peripherals. 'Somethings are out there' he thought to himself. 

"It hardly matters… You entered alone, but you'll leave with your companions. They will carry your corpse to whatever funeral they give your kind, and you will be forgotten. Me on the other hand, in three minutes I'll be outside on the roof, hitching a ride on my personal helicopter. And in for minutes, this entire building will collapse. A final fuck you to the city, and your friends downstairs." 

"You'll come with me now, you I'll be forced to open fire on you." 

"I'll keep that in mind." The man stood up and began to walk towards the stairway. "Kill him." Was his final comment before exiting. 

Vincent immediately turned to his left and began firing into the shadows, he was rewarded with the screams of a person, mortally wounded. Then he heard movement from his right hand side, and from nowhere another man in a suit emerged wielding a katana. The man came out slashing and Vincent was forced to shield himself with the submachine gun. But the force of the slash knocked him off his feet, and Vincent was on his back desperately shielding himself from the mobster's onslaught. Then suddenly a series of cracks had filled the air and man seemed start convulsing for a minute before he fell over on his side. Vincent looked over towards the doorway and there was Carla. She was barely able to steady her rifle with one arms, but had managed to drag herself into the next room and save his life. 

"Hurry up and finish him." Was all she could say. She looked exhausted, sweat and blood marked her trail from the other room. Just then Carter and 4 other soldiers entered the throne room. 

"What's happening?" 

"Get Carla, and everyone out of this building immediately, its set to collapse in about 1 ½ minutes." Vincent yelled as he took off in a run towards the stairway. 

"Where are you going?" Carter called back. 

"To finish this." He replied as he disappeared up the stairs. 

Carter gathered Carla up and they all evacuated the building. 

Vincent emerged on the roof, there was nothing special about it, a flat roof going all the way across with the exception of the doorway from which Vincent emerged. At the far end of the roof was a helicopter and the gray suited man was about to open the hatch when he noticed Vincent slowly approaching. 

He turned to face Vincent. "That was much faster than I thought it would be." 

"I aim to please." 

"I could use a man like you in my organization…" 

"I already have a job thanks." 

"I thought you would say that, shame too…" 

The hatch on the helicopter slid open and two men with rifles were sitting there, they both began firing on Vincent. All Vincent could do was dive behind the doorway that led to the downstairs. The gray suited man ran around the helicopter and entered from the opposite side. When one of the two men ran out of ammunition the other would start firing, and they would take turns spraying the doorway with bullets. When the helicopter began to take off they closed the hatch, and that's when Vincent made his move, he stepped out from behind the doorway towards the center of the roof with a pistol in each hand. The gray suited man tapped the pilot on the shoulder and pointed to Vincent. The pilot twisted the controls, and the Helicopter was now facing Vincent, the Helicopter was at such an angle with the ground that the twisting blades came inches from hitting the roof. And slowly the helicopter was approaching him. Vincent just closed his eyes for a moment and raised one of his pistols. If he was going to make this shot it had to be perfect. He holstered his second pistol and dropped to one knee, using both hands to steady his gun. 'Timing, if you want to make this shot, forget everything else and concentrate on the timing.' He thought to himself. Then there was a bang, and windshield of the helicopter shattered. The dead body of the pilot slumped over the controls and the helicopter performed a front flip as the gray suited man desparetly tried to pull the pilot's body off the controls. The helicopter landed upside down on the roof with a large explosion. As this was happening, Vincent was making a mad dash for the edge in an attempt to outrun the shrapnel. It had already been about four minutes and this entire building would be going down shortly. 

When Vincent jumped off the building, he was more concerned with getting off the building as soon as possible rather than where he landed, but was lucky enough to land on a convertible top car. 

The guards witnessing his impressive leap extricated him from the mess of the car and an EMS arrived just as the building began to crumble to carry Carla and him self to the hospital. 

"I spent three days recovering in the hospital, a piece of a chopper blade was imbedded in my left hand. If I still had a hand I could show you the scar." Vincent stated. 

"That was impressive to say the least…" Yuffie smiled before her next comment. "Very impressive. You sure you're not mixing your exploits with action flicks?" 

Vincent just looked at her for a moment and then continued. "A week later our official initiation into the Turks would take place. All three of us were afterwards placed in Wutai to help with reconnaissance. The Shinra Corporation felt that in the long-run Wutai would be giving them troubles with their anti hi-technology lifestyle. So they decided to start learning as much about the nation of Wutai as soon as possible. At our initiation, all the remaining… protocol concerning the Turks was explained." There was another bright flash of light. And they were in a white space, just Yuffie and Vincent. 

"They told that we were joining a secret organization that had been alive for close to 200 years, and that close to 15 years earlier they had nearly died financially, but certain opportunities had presented themselves that kept the company alive." Vincent's gaze dropped. "They… They were explaining to me, that I was about to be initiated into the group that had assassinated my father, mother, uncle and all the other high-ranking officials in the old Valentine Weapons Company. Then the old man who recruited me gave me back my DeathPenalty and Outsider, and asked me if I still wanted my assignment." 

"For years I had sworn vengence upon the party that stole my family from me… They stole my parents and my life from me, but when they told me… I had no idea what to feel. It came as a complete shock. I did not want to hate them. After one and one half years they were the closest thing to a family I had, my surrogate family. Carla, and Carter were my surrogate siblings, my teachers and superiors were my surrogate aunts and uncles, and my recruiter, the old man who made me take a shot at his grand-daughter was my surrogate father, he was my best friend for a time. From what I had learned, I could probably have taken that entire organization down in a mater of days. A bit longs to locate all their away spies. But they were giving me that option, as if to redeem themselves to me. So I forgave them. And three days later we left for Wutai, as 'official attaches' of the Shinra Power, Weapons, and Services Corporation." 

Vincent's gaze had now centered on the floor. Yuffie was nearly in tears. She knew that she would never be able to make him admit it, but the death of his father was still paining him. After so much time it still hurt him so. But why should time make it better? Her own mother had died 11 years earlier, if anything the pain had gotten worse each time she thought about it. She could remember her shimmering long dark brown hair, and how they used to play together. Just thinking about it she began to tear up. And Vincent he had 30 years to reflect on his mistakes, and past, and there were a lot more people for him to mourn. She was afraid to think it… Her lips began to quiver and tears began to form in her eyes. 'Thinking of Vincent's life… actually made her feel better about her own misfortunes.' When that thought crossed her mind, she could restrain it no longer. 

To Vincent's great surprise, she ran forward to him and had wrapped her arms around his waist. She pushed her head into his chest and started freely sobbing into him. Throughout his travels with Avalanche Vincent had shown signs of emotion on his face only three times. First when he was reunited with Lucrecia one last time, second when he fired the shot that killed Hojo, and third… when this small 16 year old girl began crying tears for him. Vincent's face was that of confusion, he had no idea what to do. Vincent let his memories fade, she had seen too much sadness for now. They would return to office room and resume this series of memories later. Before the memory completely faded, he put one his left metal arm on the small of her back and his flesh hand on the back of her head, and held her close. The sobbing had stopped now, and was replaced with a few quiet sniffles. 

Before the scene completely faded Vincent whispered to her, "I'm sorry you had to see all this…" 

She replied in a hoarse voice, "Don't be, I'm glad you decided to show me." Then she looked up at his face and smilingly said, "But I'm still not giving up on you." 

Darkness…. 

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NA: Dear god… that took forever… The longest chapter yet, and that section of memories are not even finished yet. I originally planned to go through the entire series of memories before I went ahead to chaos's sequence, but it just seems too long for one chapter. So as a result, Chaos gets to talk early.


	10. Origins of Chaos

This entire thing with Chaos will be more narrative than flashback... Well most of the story is like that... My original idea for a fic was simply to make a story about Chaos. Go straight from this point to his incorporation into Vincent. (don't wanna give anythign away.) But it seemed kinda strange. I am a fan of yuffxvince fics, so i thought i'd add that in aswell to help explain whats happening... or something like that...

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Chapter 10 **_Origins of Chaos_** (original fic. title.)

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Yuffie gently yawned once and stretched her arms out. She batted her eyes and licked her lips and wondered where in the hell she was. Then it all returned to her. She was curled up in ball on a couch at the edge of the room. It was facing towards the giant desk and plush chair she had started this journey in. She was back in the Shinra office. It was hard to make out. Most of the lights were out. Looking around she identified the silohette of Vincent against the far window. From the little light present she could tell he was staring out into the starry night. 

Slowly she rose, and slipped off her sneakers. She didn't want to make any noise while crossing the room. It wasn't that she was trying to sneak up on Vincent, more so that there was a peace in the room she did not want to disturb. As she approached the window she too became entranced in the stars. They were uncountable in number and seemed to rise and recede in brightness at will. It was one of the most amazing things she had ever seen. Vincent turned his head slightly and observed the young ninja as she walked up on his right from behind. She wrapped her left arm around his right near the elbow and took his right hand in her own right hand. They just stood there for a moment, Yuffie decided to start. "Why are we here?"

"I decided we should take a break. Chaos arranging his own memories for our viewing, after we see what he has to show, we will continue where we left off."

"You stopped because of me…"

"You've been through a lot, and you simply needed some time to rest. For now, the less you think about it the better."

Yuffie squeezed his hand slightly and looked upwards to his face. He betrayed no emotion as usual, but the hollow indifferent look he carried seemed to carry its own personality now. It was different, but it wasn't. She gave up. Turning back towards the window she leaned her head on his arm and stared out into the starry sky. "What are we looking at?" she asked.

"After an exceptionally successful mission in Wutai, I was brought back here to receive my next assignment from the President himself. The president was unable to come, he had some defense contracts to go through in Junon. But It was here I was first professionally introduced to Dr. John Edgar Gast and Dr. Lucrecia Mayer. She was representing the team in Nibelheim I was to protect as they researched further into the ancient stories of the life stream. Dr. Gast represented a private company that had made a most astounding discovery in the Northern Limits. It was what they believed to be the remains of an ancient life-form. They lacked adequate funding to research the life form. So they turned it and it's head researcher over to the Shinra. The energy signals given off by the life-form were near identical to those of Mako, so the two projects were clustered together. A formal dinner was held here to introduce the parties involved. My job was to protect the researchers. Gast came representing the party researching the life form and Lucrecia the progressing study into the origins of life stream. The three of us stood right here and watched the sun rise early the next morning, all three of us hit it off right away. I'm somewhat ashamed to admit it, but Lucrecia recognized me, before I her."

Yuffie didn't say anything, she just stood there, her arms linked around Vincent, and watched the horizon. He mentioned, "I don't know why this came to mind."

Soon the horizon began shifting colors and the sky too. "Good thing, don't' question it." Yuffie said plainly. "You had very good friends… You still do." she whispered as she gently squeezed his arm. The sky, began to change to light shades of blue, and the stars began disappearing from the sky. Then the sun broke. She watched it for a few seconds as it began to emerge before averting her eyes. 'I know this place isn't real, but just standing here, I can feel the warmth of the sun on my skin.' Her eyes gently closed, and she tightened her grip on Vincent's arm.

Suddenly from behind them, there was a ding and a small light lit up above one of the elevators on the opposite side of the room. Yuffie quickly spun around, the noise had surprised her. Vincent Continued to observe the rising sun, he already knew who it was. Chaos had a smirk on his face as he walked out of the elevator. He casually commented to the blushing ninja and indifferent Vincent, "I'm ready to show you the mechanism I spoke, and how I came to be apart of you, Vincent. If you'd be so kind as to step inside my office." With that Chaos stepped out to the side of the elevator doorway and with a decadent bow gestured for them to enter.

Yuffie dropped Vincent's arm and began walking towards the elevator. Halfway there she turned and stared back to Vincent, he hadn't budged from his spot. "Vincent" she softly called out.

Quickly turning around Vincent began walking towards the elevator behind Yuffie. After they entered Chaos stepped in and the elevator doors promptly closed. "Please keep your hands and feet within the present limitations of the elevator." Chaos commented as the elevator began to ascend. For about half a minute all they could hear was the hum of the elevator, Yuffie and Vincent waited patiently for what Chaos had to show them. The lights in the elevator began to dim, and soon the elevator went pitch black. "I suppose I should tell you… In order to explain this… all of this… I must first tell its story." A bright light flashed above them. Looking down Yuffie noticed that the smooth marble floors of the elevator had been replaced by a slab of rough stone, worn with age. Furthermore, the walls of the elevator seemed to be gone as well, instead they seemed to be moving up a shaft made up of a stone similar to that of the floor. The platform was still rising and looking up Yuffie noticed a square hole above them through which a bright light poured out. As they closed in on the hole, they could hear a sort of chatter, and a clatter of feet. Finally the platform stopped as it leveled off with the hole.

Yuffie gasped, Vincent shifted, and Chaos smirked. They were in a large heptagonal room. Ahead of them one side of the heptagon was gone and in its place was a staircase leading up. You could see the stairway lit up with natural light. The other four sides were also larger staircases leading downwards. On the walls and ceilings were large yellow materia orbs giving off a bright light. But that was not the shocking part. All around them were beasts and men walking side by side. Speaking to each other. Some of them were dressed in scholarly robes, others were not able to. But in small clumps about the room were cloaked men looking about them.

"Where are we?" Yuffie nervously asked.

"Below the temple of the Ancients." Chaos replied. "And here I come, from what will later be rightfully be called the bone village."

Just as he said that some of the people at the stairway leading to the surface began to scatter off to the sides. A large winged beast flew the stairway and landed in the middle of the room. As he did that three of the cloaked men walked up to meet him, the rest formed a circle around him.

One of the men stepped forward. "State you purpose here."

"I am a representative of one of the outer cities, and my purpose is my own."

The man took another step forward, as he did some of the men began reaching into their cloaks. "Please state your name and your purpose!"

From behind them there was a yell from the stairway leading to the surface. "Lord Chaos!"

Quickly Chaos twisted around and unfurled his wings, several of the cloaked men backed off. "Clear the way! We have wounded!" Shouted Chaos.

When he turned around again the man who had stopped him was kneeling before him. "My apologies Lord Chaos, but as security here it is our job to look into such matters."

"Security? Since when has security become an issue?" Chaos asked.

"Since such matters became of interest to the high council." The guardsman evaded.

"But why?" Chaos pursued.

"Lord chaos, Lord Chaos!" 11 people had followed him down, some were monsters some were men. Four of them were carrying on a stretcher a fifth man. Trailing closely behind them was a sobbing woman, obviously a loved one. Another four were carrying a beast. The beast's hands were tied behind his back, and his feet together. 2 were carrying him by his shoulders, while another two carried him by his feet.

Chaos stared at the guardsman for an answer. He slowly backed off with a bow and ended, "Of course, I would not be privy such knowledge."

Chaos then turned back to the group that followed him. "You four take the Marshall down to the Court Register. Do not allow sentence to be passed without my prescence. The rest of us will Jacks down to the Purification Chamber."

The first group began walking down on of the four stairways. One of the people holding Jacks's stretcher asked, "Shouldn't we take him to the infirmiry?"

"No," Chaos replied, "He is beyond what physical care we can offer him." At that comment, the woman trailing behind them began to sob louder. Chaos walked up to her and said, "But he can still be saved. In a week you'd never know he was in a comma." This seemed to quell her fear and she looked up at Chaos and nodded. The remaining seven of them began walking down another stairway. Yuffie, Vincent and their host Chaos followed behind them.

After five minutes of going down the stairs Yuffie complained, "How long till we get there?"

Chaos answered, "A few more minutes. The purification chamber is deep within to earth. It taps a small stable source of life-stream. We'll be there soon."

After about 1 more minute of walking they finally arrived at a doorway. In front of it were two more cloaked men. When they saw Chaos in the lead they quickly opened the passageway and stepped to the side. The group quickly stepped through. About them were 3 passageways, one directly ahead and 2 going off to the sides. From a birds eye view it looked like a circle surrounded by a ring. The passageway ahead of them lead to the circle within, and all along the ring were separate offices and labs. Chaos pushed open the double doors ahead of them and they proceeded in. Inside the room were Beasts and men walking to and fro conducting tests of sorts or discussing theory on the healing abilities of the circle of purification. In the centermost of the room was a shallow pool of life-stream about 4 yards in diameter. Inside that was a small platform about three yards in diameter, the surface of said platform was barely submerged under the life-stream. Around the pool were 5 dais. There was an old man comparing a sheet of notes to the dials and switches on one of them.

"Professor Remus!" Chaos called out.

The old man turned around, and after examining the Chaos beast and his procession replied with a scowl, "Well, if it is'nt the high lord Chaos, back from the outer territories with some more unfortunates for me to cure."

Chaos stepped forward towering over the old man. Looking straight down at him he replied, "Careful professor, I was present when you entered this world. And I would enjoy speeding you to your exit.

At that comment some of the other researches turned around and began to watch. The frown locked on the old man's face and the look of hate on Chaos's. After a few seconds the old man's cheeks began to twitch, and he broke out in a laugh. Chaos joined him. "What have you brought me today old friend?"

"A poor soul whose mind has been poisoned. In the territory we lacked the proper equiptment for poison extraction and purification, so the poison has already run its course. The circle of purification is the only chance this man has."

"Who did this to him?" queried the professor.

"My former marshall… The creature Kain."

The old man stared at the body in the stretcher for a moment making judgements in his head. "He in the comma stage right?"

"Yes."

"Good then, he is holding on. Please place him in the circle."

The four men crossed into the pool and placed the strecher down on the platform then they gently unloaded his body. Remus walked from Dais to dais adjusting the settings. Jacks's wife just stood off to the side and watched along side Chaos. After Remus had gotten to all the daises he asked all the others to get out of pool. Afterwards, he activated the circle of Purification. The pool began to give off a gentle glow, but still nothing happened.

"Professor," Chaos began. "When can we expect to see some results?"

The old man stood in front of Chaos. "Within half a day." Then he shuffled off to speak to Jacks's wife (Lidia). "I'm assuming you're his loved one come to see to his health?" Lidia nodded. "There is a waiting room I will take you to. The rest of you must leave for now. But not you Chaos. We still must speak."

The four other men began to head back to the surface. Remus led Lidia to one of the rooms connected to the ring surrounding the Purification chamber, then he and Chaos proceeded to another room that served as his office. Yuffie, Vincent and Chaos followed.

Remus sat down down at the desk in his office, Chaos continued to stand. From within his desk, Remus pulled out a bottle half filled with a brown transluscent liquid along with two smaller drinking glasses. After pouring each one half-way full he handed one glass back to Chaos. They raised their glasses to each other and began to drink.

Remus started, "I bought this bottle nearly 25 years ago. Its hard to imagine it lasted so long."

"The last time we drank, was near 15 years ago. Where has the time gone."

The old man cackled at this comment and replied, "This coming from you. You're near 500 years old, which would translate near 20 years to a human. I'm near 90, and… well… I'm dying Chaos."

It was Chaos's turn to laugh. "You're not dieing. You're old, but you still have time."

"Time yes. However, I won't live to see the next spring. I can _feel_ it. Please don't question this, just listen." He sighed heavily. "This world is changing. I'm not sure how or why, but it is. Your marshall the beast Kain, did he lose all rational thought and randomly attack Jacks?"

"Yes, he did. But he is not the only one. In most cases the injuries were only slight. We think its our proximity to the promised land which is causing it."

"You're wrong. I'm not supposed to talk about this, but its been happening all across the planet. Random beasts going insane and running off into the wild. I'm not sure what the cause is, but I suspect that's why those cloaked men are now stationed at my door and around the temple."

"They said they are present at the command of the High Council."

"Then they know what is happening, or atleast they have noticed it. You must go speak with them. Find out what is happening." Remus sat down and poured himself another glass.

"And report my findings back to you?" Chaos held out his own glass for a refill.

"No, I'm too old to deal with this now. Besides just this morning the Demi God Shiva has asked all the department heads to create manuals and guides to each of the mechanisms in this temple."

"Whats the problem? You already have manuals, and records and explanations." Chaos pulled out a large volume from the book case and quickly flipped through it before replacing it.

"She wants something more permanent. I'm to inscribe the instructions onto the walls of all the chambers. It will take an eternity to finish. But enough of my complaining. Tell me how you've kept yourself busy the last 15 years."

Chaos chuckled for a moment. "The first 2 years were dedicated almost completely to building a town. Contrary to that the last 13 have primarily been works at exploring the area, expanding the town, and we've begun a temple projects around the city."

Yuffie and Vincent's host Chaos broke into the conversation. "You would recognize the town now as the City of the Ancients on the Northern continent. However it was our city first. The ancients would not come to live in that place until about 700 years later, after it had been abandoned, after there were too few people left to live there.

The Beast Chaos quickly finished off the liquids in his glass and put it down on Remus's desk. "I'm sorry to cut this short, but I must check in with the others. By now Kain's trial will have been arranged, and I would like to be present before it begins."

"By all means. But you must visit me before you leave again. Its been too long old friend."

"Indeed it has, and I will."

With that the two parted. Chaos made his way back up the stair ways to the heptagonal room they started in. Then he proceeded down the stairway the four men carrying Kain went down. Chaos was fairly sure they would have finished making preparations for Kain's trial, and he would be able to sit in on the entire event. If anything was mentioned pertaining to the cause of Kain's lunacy, Chaos wanted to hear it.

When he finally arrived at the entrance to the courts he was surprised to see his four men who had carried Kain there standing in a circle outside the entrance. When they saw him they rushed forward to explain what had happened.

"As soon as we told the receptionist what had happened she contacted on of the attendants." "Within five minutes there were eight of those cloaked men who stopped you in the main hall here, and they hauled Kain off." "They didn't say anything, they just told us to wait here for you." "No explanation no nothing." "What do you suppose has happened to him?"

"I don't know." He replied. Chaos walked up to the receptionists desk and before he could ask his question she said, "Lord Chaos, you may enter the court chambers, but your men must return to the surface." His men just stared at him for a moment then began filing back up towards the Main hall. Chaos pushed open the large double doors and entered into yet another giant hallway connecting and interconnecting a series of Judicial offices, hearing rooms, offices, court rooms, and other such chambers associated with the law, its interpretation and its creation. He was greeted upon entry by another member of the Temple's cloaked guardsmen. Chaos was quickly taken to Kain's courtroom deep within the earth. After a few minutes of walking he was surprised to find himself standing infront of the Grand Council's meeting chamber. The guardsman looked at him and indicated that this was their destination. A bit fearful now, Chaos pushed the doors open and walked inside.

The first thing he could see was Kain. Kain was standing on his knees before the council. His head was down. Then it hit Chaos, the scent of death. As Chaos walked forward towards the council he saw it. In the back of Kain's neck was the beginning of large long steak. It had been driven through the back of his neck down through his chest and pelvis down into the ground where it was holding him erect. Chaos was slightly shocked. They had not been at the temple for more than an hour but already his former advisor had been processed, tried and executed. And now Chaos was made to stand before the High Council, for what he had no idea.

Chaos was now kneeling before the council, like Kain once was. They had probably forced him down onto his knees, insanity had already taken a firm grip on him. Chaos looked to his left, blood was dripping out of his mouth.

The High council was separated into two groups on two tiers. On the lower tier were the High Lords, in another 100 years Chaos might have joined them. Starting from the left there was the High Lord Hades, cloaked as he always was, two red eyes staring out. To his right was Diablo, followed by Kjata, Alexander, Odin, the Levanthian representative and the representative for the Zero Bahamut. Of the mortal beings they were the wisest and strongest. On the tier above them were the five demi-gods. Starting on the left was Ifrit, Ramuh, Shiva, Titan, and Tupon. Of the demi gods Shiva was their leader. She was the oldest and most wise of them all.

Shiva stood up for a moment, "Please Rise Lord Chaos."

Yuffie, Vincent, and their host Chaos were standing off to the side. Yuffie commented, "They all look just like our summons."

Chaos replied, "They are. Summons are nothing more than the souls of great beings whose purposes were… cut off. Everyone here shares that. As you shall see before we leave." Chaos chuckled for a moment. "Sephiroth maybe… In a few thousand years he too may become a summon. Rufus and Tseng as well… perhaps…"

"Do you have any question for the council?" Shiva asked.

"Yes. What have you done to my advisor and why?" Chaos demanded.

"He attacked a fellow being, and nearly killed him. What did you think would happen to him?" she replied calmly.

"He was insane, and we don't know why. Was'nt that worth figuring out?" Chaos barked back.

"We know what happened to him." Shiva's pacifying eyes washed over him, and for a moment Chaos forgot his anger.

"His eyes narrowed and he asked, "What then?"

Shiva sighed once, the light shining on her silvery skin, then began, "The planet as a whole has made the decision to… decrease the knowledge base of some of the species." Shiva bit her lip. Granted she was the leader of the High Council, and wisest and fairest of all the demi gods, but she still hated breaking bad news to those who did'nt deserve it.

"What she means," a cold voice cut in. "Is that the planet has decided to turn the majority of the Beasts into raving mad animals." Chaos turned to the new voice. It was Hades, his face now un hooded, he was leaning forward staring at Chaos. Studying him. "Maybe it would be best to let him see the message himself."

Their host Chaos interrupted his flashback for a moment. "Regularly messages from the planet were delivered to the council. They all came in the form of materia orbs. When you concentrated on the orbs you were given a vision of what the Planet desired. Shiva interpreted the dreams and gave edicts out to the council. It was rare for the planet to choose a voice and speak for itself. But on the rare occasion it did, the message was shown to all those deemed worthy by the council. This was one of those rare occasions."

"Perhaps." Shiva concurred.

One of the side exits to the room opened and a servant to the council emerged carrying a box. He opened it and presented the message orb to Chaos.

Chaos took the cloudy white ball in one hand and concentrated for a moment. Then everything turned to black. There were no visions in this message, only a voice. 'To my High Council I convey this message: It is the will of this planet that the race of beasts should all degrade in mind capacity. However this degradation shall take place over time. Infact, the longevity of mind is dependent on many factors, including but not limited to: Intellect, Loyalty, Power of body and mind, Bravery, and Cunning. It is entirely possible for a race to remain as they have been for generations. It is the way they live that will determine if they do or do not." There was a pause. "However... In secret to all except the race of beasts… There is a way to escape this fate. Should the race of men become extinct, the planet's decision to degrade the mind capacity of the race of beats shall be reversed. This is meant primarily as a contingency should the race of men kill themselves off, but as also the final option for the race of Beasts. This is the will of planet and therefore law.'

The darkness in Chaos's mind receded. Yuffie and Vincent witnessed the entire event. And they heard the voice echoing in the darkness.

Now Chaos understood why there were soilders stationed here, incase any beast should fall victim to this edict. But what did the message mean by "In secret to all but the race of beasts"?' Chaos looked around the faces of the council once. The representative of Zero Bahamut coughed once when his gaze fell on him, Kujata rubbed his chin when their eyes met. Diablo cracked his neck when their gaze met. Finally Hades gave him a deep stare for a moment, then nodded his head, afterwards he pulled the hood back on hiding his face. Suddenly Chaos understood. None of the Demi-gods, or humans knew. They had a chance... but at what cost? Then Chaos realized he was still standing before the High council, and they were waiting for some response from him. "How did this come to pass?"

"We have no idea," replied Shiva. "But there has been speculation."

"We believe, it may have something to do with Shiva." Commented Kujata.

"Her preference of race if you will..." Hades said in an insulting tone.

Alexander was staring at the floor, and Odin was fuming. Shiva 45 years earlier had married the High Lord Alexander, and Odin was their first son. Odin was presently staring daggers at Hades. Alexander and Shiva had a second son, but no one knew very much about him. Yet. Odin was 42, and himself had 3 wives, twelve sons between them. Each great were warriors.

Even though Chaos was new to this group, he could sense the animosity.

"In any case." Shiva said, breaking the silence. "There was a second message delivered earlier." With a look of sadness she conveyed to the high Council. "We are to abandon this temple." There were murmurs and looks of surprise all around. "The Life-stream wants us to finish our activities here and leave for now. We are not to destroy the temple, simply to seal it up. The temple must remain sealed, until it is forgotten. No one from our generation is permitted to return here after it is sealed or even to mention it to the later generations. The life-stream says that in order to divert a future disaster, this place will be needed. Instructions for the mechanisms inside will be inscribed on the wall of each chamber."

"But why? If future generations need this technology why should we abandon this temple?" asked Odin.

"I don't know" Shiva answered, "But I think, the planet is worried this place will be destroyed, in a war of some sort."

"A war" Chaos said half laughing it out. Then he looked around for a moment the council was staring at him. "That would be horrible." he said in a stern voice.

Shiva just stared at him for a moment. "Indeed..." She sighed once more. "But... there is still more…" She took a deep breath and continued. "Slowy" she said with great emphasis casting a glance to Alexander, "The demi-gods are to withdraw from this world."

"Until the time…" She stopped again, and looked around the room. "Until a clear victor of some sort is established. I'm not clear on what that means."

Chaos knew. There would be a war soon, and only after one side eliminated the other would the demi-gods be allowed to return. The planet was evening the sides. The beasts were more powerful, but would soon begin to sharply decrease in number, and the humans were weak but could easily grow in power. One thing he had noticed in humans is that when faced with adversity, they rarely failed to meet the challenge.

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NA: This is what I wanted to do. This was my original purpose, to write about the demon chaos, and how he came to be apart of Vincent. In every fanfic i've read Chaos has a voice... Chaos is little more than a voice, and I always wanted to add a character to the voice. While thinking about it I read over something, where they turned some people into a summon materia (think it was cloud and aeris). That got me thinkin, (a dangerous thing yes....) "hey... all these summons are based at-least partially on real world god-like figures. what if in the game they were real beings too but from the past?" How were summons formed? they had to come from somewhere. So I decided to incorporate the the summons into Chaos's origin. And how better to tie a series of superpowered beings together than through a war? 

(Earlier that week) Well I'm screwed… I accidently deleted about 4/5 of this part of the story. It happened last night, I had some formatting issues with Word. So I copied the entire thing onto notepad to get rid of all the word formating and deleted the word document. When i was looking over the copy on notepad i noticed that I didn't copy the entire thing. So now… I have the ending to this chapter and nothing else. So i'm gonna break up the chapters a bit, buy me a couple days to rewrite the damn thing.

In a lame attempt to raise my review rate (I love hearing from you people. I'm gonna start adressing the reviewers from the chapter directly preceding this one.)

I'll do what i can for you hopeless romantics (Neko yuff) but i'm already up to chapter 13. I'll see if i can fit any appropriate scenes in the already finished chapters for ya.

Cattiebrie: I appreciate your enthusiasm, and thanks again for the review.

Ezri-Candy: One thing i always hated when i read fics and books and such were action sequences. Because its on paper It was really hard to imagine just how it was happening. I'm glad to hear you didn't have any problems imagineing this.

READ And REVIEW!!!!


	11. A Hidden Message

Na: Finally got here. I never thought I'd get this far. God when I accidentally deleted four fifths of the chapter before this I nearly dropped this, I was so frustrated.

I managed to hit my 2000 word mark without any author's notes so I'm happy.

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11) A hidden Message

Yuffie spoke first, "I'm not sure why, but it seems like the planet is trying to create a war."

"It does seem that way. Personally the decisions of the life stream were beyond me. I had no idea how it worked. But I did understand that the planet wanted this temple sealed off before the war began. So did the others." Chaos replied.

Vincent looked to the others and asked, "Where is this temple?"

At this Chaos laughed for a moment. "Frankly I'm surprised Avalanche never found it. It was directly under the Temple of the Ancients. Had you broken through the top layer of stone where you picked up the Black Materia, you would have been at the main entrance where myself and my men entered."

Yuffie replied, "We had no idea." She turned to Vincent. "How were we supposed to know?"

Chaos let out a heavy breath. "No one is blaming you, besides its of little consequence now. Just listen. This part is important. Vincent, I can read this language, so when the time comes you will too."

Chaos was back in Remus's office, they were toasting the past. He had just finished explaining what he learned from the high council, with the exception of course of how the beasts could permanently keep their mental capacities. After Shiva announced that the demi-gods would disappear until a 'winning party' was determined, Chaos had no doubt there would be a war. Furthermore he had no doubt that the planet had foreseen intervention from the demi gods and was merely balancing out the sides.

Remus put down his glass. Before he started refilling it he quietly said, "I'm sorry Chaos."

Chaos smiled for a moment. "Don't be. It may not affect me at all. It all depends on... how I live."

"I have no doubt you'll retain your mind. It's just that... You'll be very lonely. There won't be many beasts who will be able to."

"It doesn't matter... What will happen will happen. We can't fight the life stream on its decision. Only carry out its wishes." As he spoke Chaos's mind wandered over his options. Kill the humans and protect his race and posterity or side with the humans and allow his own race to fade into darkness. To his own surprise he caught himself wondering just how he would commit genocide in his own city at the Border areas. Chaos quickly shook the idea from his mind. He had spent 15 years building that city, with human and beast. 'The life-stream won't let this happen. A solution will present it self.'

Chaos's train of thought was interrupted by Remus. "Your man Jacks will be ready to go by this evening. I informed your men of this. They seem eager to return to their families. How did you get here so quickly anyways? Travel by ship takes at least four days."

"The greater dragon Bahamut, youngest of the three Bahamuts flew us here." He replied. "He likes to act as a postman between the greater cities. It was luck that he was there when he was. He will be flying us back as well." 'Bahamut' he thought to himself. 'With his power destroying the city as a whole would be easy. What am I thinking. I can't betray them. They are my charge.' "Let us talk of something else. How go the transcriptions?"

"Well right now we are in the sorting stage. Shiva wants us to list certain cases and how we used the circle to cure them." He quickly took another gulp from his glass. "And it seems that the transcriptions are not in the purification chamber alone. No. They will be inscribed in all the hallways and offices in this place. Why right here will be... um..." The old man picked up a folder propped against the wall. There were several all around the room, and out in the halls as well. "Right here will be, separating joint minds. Yes... In the unlucky chance some poor fool gets another fool stuck in his head, this would be the sequence on the dais they would need to separate them."

Yuffie and Vincent looked up. "Isn't that?" Yuffie started.

"Yes, that is how I intend to split us." Chaos replied.

"Then we're done here! We can get back to Vincent, finish up here, and be on our merry way!" Yuffie called out in a singsong voice. Chaos looked a bit disappointed and let out quiet sigh. Vincent's expression had not changed the entire time.

Quietly Vincent shifted his weight to his other foot and unfolded his arms. "If its possible," he began Quietly Vincent shifted his weight to his other foot and unfolded his arms. "If its possible," he began. "I would like to see the rest of this."

Chaos looked up for a second, a thoughtful smirk on his face, "Really?"

"Really."

"So we're going to be here for a while?" Yuffie chimed in.

"I'm just curious how this story ends." Vincent replied.

"Cool" was her reply. Yuffie danced in front of the frozen figures of Chaos and Remus. They were still as if paused. Waving her hands about in a mystical fashion she began to randomly chant words. "Unfreeze! … Play! … Continue!"

Chaos looked over to Vincent and nodded. Vincent nodded back. "You might wan to try abra kadabra." Chaos idly commented, and instantly the memories resumed.

The mood that existed in the room between the two old friends was suddenly broken. A servant of one of the High Counselors tapped lightly on the door and let himself in. "Ahem, Lord Chaos! The High Lord Hades requests your prescience, and your transportation back to the Border territories has been prepared."

Chaos put the glass down. "I hate to cut this short…"

"Don't worry about it. I'll send your man to the surface in a few hours. You'll be on your way in no-time."

"Thank you again old friend. Maybe you should come visit me next time. Your work here is winding down. And the Northern Territories is a great place, I'm sure you'll love it there."

"I'd love to come."

"You'll have to come before next spring if its no problem."

"I'll arrive with plenty of time. But until then, I want you to hold this for me." Remus passed him the 3/4 empty bottle of liquor. "Hold it for me, until we meet in your house, where we can finish this off. Now you'd better hurry and meet High Lord Hades. It's not good to keep men like that waiting. We'll meet again in fair time."

"Until then old friends. Keep safe."

"You too."

Bottle in hand. Chaos walked out the door following behind Hades' servant. The beast took him to the surface. A short walk from there his men were disassembling camp in a clearing. A forest surrounded the area. There was a small town to the south. But most of the temple workers lived in the temple itself. The beast was leading him to a smaller clearing a bit closer to the woods, where Bahamut was settled. In the distance he could see Bahamut settled on the ground, but he wasn't alone. Near his head was a robed figure. As the distance closed, Chaos recognized the black and red trimmed robes as Hades. Hades had not seen them yet. But Bahamut alerted him as to their presence when he saw them over Hades' shoulder. Hades broke off from Bahamut and started walking towards Chaos. When they met halfway he dismissed his attendant, and they began to speak.

Hades was blunt to begin with. "You heard what the last part of the message correct?"

"Yes. But… I'm not entirely sure what it means." Chaos wanted to make him say it, to make him admit that he had complete genocide on his mind. As if it would in some way vindicate him of his own thoughts.

"It means we have a chance!" His voice was sharp and harsh. "I'll not stand by and let our race turn to the dogs. We are better than this, and if we act quickly we can end this before it has even begun. But all the same, I'd like to know that I have you on my side."

Chaos growled in anger, hatred seethed out his teeth. "You can do whatever you want here, an on the other continents, but should you ever journey North to my city so help me I'll destroy you."

"And you could too… There are only several dozen who could, but if they faced you, you would decimate them. I have no doubt about that. That's why we need you."

Chaos turned away from him.

"Look, we have the planet's leave to do this. If this war wasn't the will of the planet, why would it have made its edict a secret?" He placed his hand on Chaos's shoulder.

"I don't see why you need my help. You'll take the humans completely by surprise if you attack them."

"In our first battle surely. But you forget, they already have a standing army. The High Council has known about the beasts turning going insane for close to three months. All across the planet are standing militias and guard stations. If they were to unite now, they still would not stand a chance. But as time goes by we slowly loose more and more beasts. We can't make a move until this temple is effectively sealed away. I won't risk angering the planet. Myself and the other High Counselors have already started forming ranks. They'll move into the shadows and stay there until the time is right. We're gathering as many beasts as we can. The Leviathan can effectively stop transportation from the sea, and Zero and Neo Bahamut can bombard the human cities. But we still need beasts like you, on the lines battling.

Chaos started to walk away. But Hades grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "You don't know your own fame. 'Chaos' they say, 'he will be the youngest beast to enter into the High Council' 'He is a fantastic fighter'." He pointed his thumb at himself. "I will be their leader, but you Tupon and Bahamut will be their champions."

Chaos shut his eyes, and he saw countless human faces. Remus was there, Jacks, Jacks's wife, his men, comrades, workers, not just Humans but beasts as well. All their lives would be ruined by this war. He saw the immigrants who decided to start new lives in the border territories, he saw the students at a school he was made to visit each year. As their leader he showed up at numerous public works to show his support. On an annual basis, he attempted to explain expansion and resource consumption to the only school in the city. For twelve years he had done that, and saw those children grow up. There was one young man who had made the journey with them, he had carried Jacks's stretcher to the Purification Chamber. Looking over his shoulder to his group of men as they were packing camp he saw him again. 'That boy was in the first group of children I met.' He thought to himself. Chaos turned around to face Hades, and was about to tell Hades to go Fuk himself, but Hades beat him to the punch.

"Please don't answer me now. Think about everything we've talked about now, then think about the people, then think about all the beasts that will suffer if we stand by and do nothing. Are you willing to sacrifice yourself as well?" Hades didn't give Chaos a chance to answer. He quickly strode off towards the Temple, stopping only once to yell back to them that he had one month to decide. Chaos could only stare after him.

Chaos just turned his back to him, and began walking towards Bahamut. Wordlessly they met, and began making their way towards the makeshift camp.

Bahamut was the first to speak. "Is what he said true? Are we all going to become like Kain?"

"That depends entirely on the individual beast." He replied.

"But we can stop it if we kill all the humans?"

Chaos let out a sigh. "I won't lie to you. Yes, if all the humans die…"

A good half-minute passed before another word was spoken. "Chaos, you know why I voluntarily deliver mail between the continents?"

"Ummm... Boredom? Self loathing? You lost a bet?" Chaos jested.

"Because mail brings people joy." Bahamut said seriously. "It doesn't matter who you are, or how your day went. When people hear their names called to pick up a long-distance letter almost everyone adopts a grin from ear to ear and get all giggly. I loved watching it, people's expressions going from a bored clam to an exited happiness. Mail call made people's days. Seeing the people happy made me happy."

Chaos stopped and turned to face him. "Mail… You are one of the most powerful beings I've ever met and you are entertained by people getting mail…"

The dragon shrugged... if it were possible. "I've never had a family. It was always my two brothers and I. Those people were like distant relatives, a surrogate family. When the people were happy I was happy. Like you and your city."

Chaos sighed once. "Then it seems we're both in trouble." Chaos let out a laugh. "I have my city, at risk. You have your mail route..." Bahamut twisted his neck to face him as they walked he had an indignant look on his face. "Which happens to include the entire planet." Chaos hastily added. The sun was falling beneath the horizon, and both creatures continued to the camp in silence.

* * *

Yuffie Chaos and Vincent had followed most of the flashback on foot, but now there was a bright flash and they found themselves flying through the air at an amazing speed. A full moon lit the scene looking forward they saw chaos crouched down, behind them were 10 small humans clinging on for their lives, and below them was Bahamut. They all took a few steps forwards. The wind and that hindered the others had no effect on them. They were presently flying over the ocean, very close to the water. Yuffie took hold of Vincent's arm for support, and then leaned over to dragon to take a look below them. She let out a large gasp and would have fallen over the side had Vincent not grabbed her. Sure enough Leviathan was directly below them. He was matching Bahamut's speed in the air underwater. Suddenly there was a ringing sound in Yuffie's ears, she looked around Vincent half picked one hand up to cover his ears, and their host Chaos was rubbing his temples. She could feel Bahamut shudder beneath them, and looked forward to see the Demon Chaos rubbing his temples as well. 

Their host Chaos called out to them, "The leviathan speaks through a connection in the mind."

Yuffie was as giddy as a schoolgirl, which ironically she was when she wasn't materia hunting. "You mean I'm gonna get to talk to Leviathan?"

"Something like that." Chaos replied bluntly. "But only if you shut up."

Yuffie stopped talking and opened her mind.

A stern and steady voice flowed into her mind. It was a masculine voice steady as stone. "Greeting to you Lord Chaos and Bahamut. I've opened a channel between our three minds so we might speak in private."

"Hail High Lord Leviathan" Bahamut and Chaos's voices called out in unison.

"I'm assuming that the High Lord Hades has already taken time to speak with both of you concerning… current events?"

"That he has" Chaos replied in a detached voice.

"Might I ask your decisions?"

"We are yet to decide." Bahamut replied. "But we have heard that all the High Lords will participate on behalf of the beasts…"

"Yes that is true. None truly wants to kill the humans. Luckily I am in a position where I may not have to. I can smash their vessels while they are sill in harbor, and create great storms to scare away those who would still risk a voyage. It is for those of you who would likely be assigned to the front lines I feel sorry for. Indeed if you chose to include yourselves in this war, you two would likely be champions for whatever side you defended. There is little I can do for you but offer this little advice. "Spend this next month with your people and with your fellow beasts and decide for yourselves what it is you want to do." There was a short silence between them. "If you will excuse me, Hades has asked me to gather as many amphibious beasts as I can to me for out legions."

"Thank you for your advice High Lord Leviathan." Chaos replied.

Yuffie watched over the edge of Bahamut as the shape and contours of Levithan began to sink deeper into the ocean and then turn off into another direction.

"Leviathan" Vincent said out loud to himself.

"I can't believe I actually saw the real leviathan! Not just some shadow from a summon, but the REAL DEAL! This is great." Yuffie practically screamed out.

Vincent interjected, "You realize, that he could have been considered a shadow from another being's memory, and that you never really met him." Vincent's lips formed a thin smile, as Yuffie turned red with anger.

She quickly calmed down and staring down her nose at Vincent replied, "Well this is the next best thing then…"

* * *

Na: Dear god… Doing all this is taking so much longer than I thought. At first I just wanted to just jump into the fighting, but I find myself having to explain everything and Insert little tidbits about their conversation. I thought talking about Chaos alone would just take up like 1 chapter, but now I think it will have to go on into four or five. I'm really sorry this is taking so long. 

This was all so much simpler in my head. OK hes there they talk he leaves ppl die. he dies. a seriously convoluted string of deaths follows. But putting down in words all these thoughts and images you had is your head takes so much time, and so much of the actual storyline has changed from what it originally was.

Cattibrie393: Thanks for the advice and continual support. I'm still on the look-out for the style i want to adopt. I really appreciate it.

Ezri-Candy: Meh, Kain deserved it after sending Jacks into a coma. I'm happy you liked this chapter, there are a few which are exclusive to Chaos that i hope you'll like too.

Neko-Yuff16: Thanks for the support! Keep readin!

Empress-Eerian-Sadow: Its not as much that i'm trying to build a large level of reviews, I just love hearing from yall. Makes me feel all warm and tingly to see that people like my story. Like five times a day, i end up checking to see if i got any more reviews.

Vin-the-Mazoku: Thanks for the review! CHAOS RULES!!!

Hotaru170: Thanks for the review. I always thought a fic about Chaos would be really interesting, but was severly disappointed when i never found anything. So I decided to remove the animosity between Vincent and Chaos and throw Chaos a section of his own. Keep readin and I'll keep writing.

Shadow Reaver: The fighing starts in the chapter after this, but Chaos doesn't play a fantastically large role in that. But you have to update destined souls, i wanna see what happens next in that story.

Paine Kisaragi: Thank you very much. I was grinning ear to ear when i read that.

Matta raishu!


	12. Betrayal

Na: Need to speed this up… Obsessing too much over too little.

* * *

12) Betrayal

* * *

Chaos decided to skip ahead a month. "Nothing too important happened during that month. I lightened everyone's workload and told them to spend more time with their families. Oh and Remus was supposed to visit. At the end of that month, apparently his work got done faster than they estimated." In three lines he effectively described the calm before the storm. 

Chaos was wandering again; he had spent most evenings that month wandering about the woods contemplating his next moves. He hadn't seen Bahamut since he dropped his men and him off at the Northern Borders. Nor had he seen any of the higher-ranking beasts for that matter. 'Hades must have them assembling his army' he thought to himself. He still had two weeks before the insurrection was to take place, and Remus had written to him a week back saying that the work at the temple was going faster than he originally thought, and he would be able to visit in roughly 8 days times. Tomorrow, Chas would go out to the dock and greet his friend. Remus would stay in the Northern Territory at a friend's home until his self predicted death sometime before spring or until the human population here was eradicated. Either way…

In his left hand Chaos was carrying an assortment of papers, construction contracts and long term civil works proposals that he would review later in the night. In the other hand he carried a bottle of scotch. Very early the next morning he would finish the bottle off with some of the dockworkers, as he used to do a month ago on occasion. Chaos wanted to sit down and talk to his men while trading shots, as some bland attempt to convince himself that somewhere in the back of his mind he had not already made a decision. To convince himself that he was still one of the 'good-guys'.

Choas was getting close to the dock. The dock was located on the coast (logically), and the city it self was 13 miles inland. There was a cobblestone road that led there. Chaos had a small cottage he had built many years back on the coast about 5 miles west from the dock and 10 miles south of the city. Chaos turned to his right he was on a small overhang on the coast. He could hear the waves crash up on the shore, and there was a beautiful full moon staring at him from the South. To his left he noticed the docks; they were unusually bright this night. 'No matter,' he thought to himself, 'I'll be there in a few minutes'. He just stared out into the moon stretching his arms, and twisting his neck. After a few friendly cracks from his neck he turned to continue his brisk walk, that's when he heard someone or something breaking through the undergrowth of the woods.

For a moment he just stopped and listened. He could hear it getting louder. 'There must be a few creatures or just one large one to be making such a racket.' Whatever it was it was coming straight at him. Chaos gently put the various papers down, and the bottle on top of it. He didn't want to risk smashing it. Then he just waited for whatever it was to emerge from the woods. Sure enough there were two of them, both human. The first was a male; he had his arm covering his face and was desperately running through the woods when he arrived at the clearing ahead of the overhang. Behind him he was clutching a woman's arm. She was crying and had one hand covering her stomach.

Chaos recognized him. "Jacks?"

Jacks was horrified. "Lord Chaos!"

Chaos looked at the frightened woman who was now hiding behind him, none other than Jacks's wife Lidia. "Lidia." Chaos said in greeting before turning back to Jacks. "Speak of the devil, I just finished reading your proposal for a rope suspension bridge at the Eastern Gorge. Normally I'd give you the go ahead for your resource requests, but I've had numerous requests for mining and logging projects on the other side of the gorge, so I would like you to expand your project if possible." Chaos leaned forward to papers from the ground.

Jacks did not have Chaos's night-vision and could not tell what was on the ground. Stepping in front of his wife, Jacks pulled out a large knife from his belt. "What are you doing!" he yelled.

Chaos looked up at him, and while carefully watching him retrieved the papers from the ground. "I was offering some criticism but I didn't think you'd take it so badly…"

Lidia was sobbing more than ever now. In one hand Jacks was holding a knife out towards Chaos, the other Lidia was clinging onto for dear life. "What do you want?"

"I wanted to upgrade your project from a one person rope suspension to a full fledged metal and stone bridge, but if the stress has gotten to you I can always have someone else take over…"

"You don't know what has happened…" Chaos shook his head in reply. "Beasts attacked the City, and not the crazy ones like Kain. They were organized. They just walked in. No one questioned it. There were so many. The wooden houses they burned down and killed the occupants as they exited. The non-flammable houses they ransacked. We barely made it out of the city limits." With his knife he pointed back towards the city. Chaos looked off into the distance. He couldn't see the city itself, the tree line covered it, but in above the trees he was an orange glow stretch into the sky. It was too dark to see the smoke.

"Chaos took a step towards the glowing light. "I don't understand, there was still time. Why is this happening."?

"Because we finished sealing the temple early." a voice called out. Chaos and Jacks both turned back towards the woods where a hooded figure emerged. All they could see of him were two glowing red eyes. Slowly he pulled his hood back to reveal his face. Jacks and Lidia grimaced at the old worn face. Chaos recognized him. Hades. "After the first three weeks, all we had left to finish were the inscription in the circle of purification. When that was done, the temple was quickly sealed and everyone went their way." Hades began to circle the group. "It's a shame Odin and Alexander left early. We could have killed them easily when they were aboard their ship and leaving the island."

Chaos was shocked beyond belief. "What do you mean as they were leaving the island?"

In a detached tone Hades replied, "Well after the last human vessel left the docks Neo and Zero Bahamut began bombarding them. It only took one or two shots to sink each vessel."

"Is there a chance of survivors?" Chaos asked.

Slightly saddened Hades said, "If there were, then Leviathan's legions would have killed them. While he refuses to kill the humans, he has nothing against sinking their vessels and swarming the wrecks. Presently he is tracking down the vessels that left early…" Chaos was stunned. Remus's ship was supposed to arrive the next day. In all likelihood it probably wouldn't make it across the ocean.

Jacks quietly backed away from Chaos and Hades and towards his wife. "You two can stay here and discuss this. If you'll excuse us, we have a ship to catch…"

In a stern voice Chaos replied, "I wouldn't do that." He took a few steps forwards to the ledge and looked out again towards the dock. 'It is unusually bright today.' "The dock is on fire." Lidia gasped. "Besides you're surrounded." As he said that the beasts that had concealed themselves during Hades arrival made their presence known. Bright eyes shone in the darkness and low throated growls echoed in the clearing.

"So what is left for us?" asked Jacks.

Hades opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by Chaos. "Death."

"Nooo…" Lidia called out. Jacks held her close.

It was Hades's turn to speak. "I'm sorry. If it were up to me none of this would happen. But for my people's survival, this is what must be done. When you reach the life-stream ask it yourself why this had to be done. That is all I can tell you."

Jacks began his last conversation with his wife. "Lidia, I need you to know that I love you more than anything in this world. I'd never let anything happen to you…"

"I know." She shut her eyes and sank to her knees. "I just wish we could have seen our daughter come into the world."

"I still think it would have been a son. I'll see you and our child on the other side shortly." He said.

"Please hurry, I'm lost without you." Lidia closed her eyes and both her hands were wrapped protectively over her stomach.

'It must have happened recently.' Chaos thought to himself. 'She doesn't show any signs of pregnancy.'

"Don't worry my love, don't worry." Chaos turned his head a little to the side in order to see what happened next. In the blink of an eye Jacks had decapitates his wife. Her dead body had fallen to the ground and lay a few feet from her severed head. Jacks began walking towards Chaos. The bloodied long knife was still in his hands. The poor man was speechless. He made angry gestures to Chaos with his knife then began shaking it at his wife's body. He threw the knife into the ground and caught his breath before he began speaking again. Hades continued to watch the happenings from the edge of the clearing. "I have two requests. First, you bury my wife and myself side by side deep in the ground. Second, I want you, my _lord_ Chaos to be my executioner." He enunciated lord in a mocking way.

Chaos turned fully to face him. "I…"

"You what? Can't kill me? It shouldn't be so hard. By standing by and doing nothing you've already killed so many of _your_ people. You protected us for close to fifteen years. In an odd way it makes sense that you should be the one who finishes _your_ citizens off. I want you to do it. I want you to realize that you are no different than any of these murderers.

Chaos locked eyes with him. Then placed his left hand on Jacks's right shoulder. In a slow movement he slid his hand up against his throat. Four of his fingers were wrapped around his neck, his thumb was touching the side of his chin on the opposite side of his fingers. In a stern voice Jacks made one final comment before his neck was snapped. "As a city we would have died protecting you no matter what happened, sad to think you never gave us the chance."

Silently Chaos dropped Jacks's body next to that of his wife. Then at that spot began digging their grave with his own two hands. Hades slowly made his way forward. "I have wronged you, and for that I am sorry. I came here behind your back and killed your city."

"He was right. I did betray my people. I let them-" But Chaos was cut off by Hades.

"I intentionally attacked when you were away from your city. I knew that if you saw any chance of saving them you'd jump at it. I came here first because I still need you. I need you to be their champion. My legions need a hero to rally behind." Chaos slowly moved off the side and gently placed the married couple and their unborn child in their grave. "I killed your people, and for that all I can do is offer my apologies. But I'll ask you again if you'll stand by and defend your kin."

Chaos locked eyes with Hades. "I'll join your army. And I'll fight. I'll be their hero. But I'll only fight those who would fight back. I'll leave the knife work of women and children to you." Chaos broke off their stare and looked back out to sea.

"They'll die painlessly, more than I can promise for the soldiers you'll come across." Hades smirked. "I'm glad we have you with us." Hades turned to leave the clearing. When he reached the edge he called out, "We leave tomorrow at day-break. You'll find our black ships where the forests meet the mountains on the western coast of this shoreline." Then he was gone.

Chaos took the paperwork he had been looking at and threw it over the edge. Some were caught and carried away by the wind, and some quickly sank down towards the sea. Then he took the bottle in hand and went back to his make shift home. There Yuffie Vincent and Chaos watched as he overturned furniture, scattered loose paper all about his home and eventually lit the entire things on fire. He only carried two things away from the blaze. One was a bottle of translucent brown shaded liquor, there was only a fourth of a bottle left. The other was his demon sword, a weapon of massive proportions that he hadn't unsheathed in nearly 150 years. Chaos then returned to Jacks's grave, he left the sword there as a tombstone, hopefully never to be used again.

Day would be breaking soon. Chaos took a quick sip from the bottle and poured the rest into the ocean. 'Maybe… just maybe… a diluted drop of that would filter its way to South Ocean, and maybe… just maybe… that drop would touch the lips of his best friend Remus whose ship was blown out from under him.

* * *

I thought the last chapter was kinda short and dry, so i decided to throw this in as well. Enjoy! 


	13. Roots of Peace

13) Roots of Peace R&R

* * *

"It had been nearly three months since the slaughter at the city of the Ancients. Presently we are in the general area of Costa Del Sol." Yuffie Vincent and Chaos were standing on a beach. About a quarter mile off the coast were twenty black ships. On the horizon Yuffie could see another five approaching from the coast. "As an army we effectively killed off all human life on the Northern continent, Southern Islands, the area now know as Wutai and the Greater Western continent. Presently we are mobilizing to begin our invasion of the Eastern Continent." 

"That's horrible." Yuffie commented.

"That's war." Chaos replied. "Earlier this morning those four ships in the distance were chasing after the human refugees that had survived. About one month ago Arthur, the second son of Alexander and Shiva, the younger brother to Odin, led his twelve nephews of similar age to this continent on a crusade to rescue all remaining human life. They came on one ship, but left in seven. As a force, those thirteen knights were unstoppable. That's why we were so desperate to fight them on the open sea. We hoped that we could catch them separated on the ships and kill them then and there. But none were on the one ship we caught."

Chaos stopped talking and turned around, the sea to his back, the second demon Chaos walked past their position. All about the beach there were monsters running back and forth loading boxes of supplies and weapons onto smaller rowboats that they would take out to their great ships. The three of them began to follow Chaos; he stopped on top of a small his a little ways off from the business. That's when they heard it, a great whooshing sound. Looking up Yuffie saw Bahamut descending vertically beating his wings at a pace as to slow his descent. All three went silent and began to listen when he finally touched down.

As soon as he had a chance Bahamut began, "I did not see them over our encampment. Its true then."

"I'm afraid so… Your brothers are dead." Chaos replied.

Bahamut's expression changed to sadness. "How did it happen?"

"The 13 knights. They used something we are calling the gravity trap. While the knights were gathering their refugees your brothers flew over their positions to begin their aerial bombardment. Then the knights activated the trap. We think it was constructed by Alexander. Before he joined the council, he was a great inventor. They were both sucked down to the surface, everything in their airspace was. When they hit the ground they were slightly wounded, the knights quickly finished them off before they could take to the air again."

Bahamut began to sob. It was quite a site, a greater dragon sobbing like that.

"I'm sorry, we were waiting for the first barrage to hit before we attacked on foot. After they were pulled down it was already too late. So I ordered a general withdrawal and had four ships present wait in ambush for their convoy."

Bahamut looked up. "Where was Leviathan during their flight?"

"We heard reports of a second crusade from the Northern sector of the Eastern continent. He is on patrol there. But I don't want you to worry about the knights. Hades has some plan in mind for them. And they are going to help." Chaos made a gesture to the captured ship coming in. The four black ships were in a square formation and in the middle was their prisoner ship. Manned by beasts with the humans trapped in the hull.

A few hours later when the ships had weighed anchor of the coast all the humans were brought to the beach. They looked on in horror up and down the beach. It was swarmed with beasts moving to and fro keeping busy. The captain of the guard who brought them ashore began speaking to captured humans. "As you can see we are in dire need of your vessel in order to transport our legions across the sea. But we can't allow you remain here now can we?" With that he and three others began to tear into the captured humans ranks. From a group of seventy they quickly dropped to twenty before an infuriated Hades stopped them. He stormed over the hillside onto the beach and ordered them to cease their reckless actions. Hades and the captain of the guards then got into an argument.

"Stop this reckless massacre!"

"NO! It's been too long since we've tasted fresh meat! All we have are these dried out rations! We _need_ fresh meat!" The captain enunciated the word need, and a long smile appeared on his face. To the humans he looked like a blood thirsty beast, Hades was just worried he would break out laughing in the middle of this. Hard to imagine but this beast was the best actor he could arrange for on such short notice.

"Then feast on the flesh of their fallen! But leave these twenty to me!" Hades then moved in between the captain and the captured.

"High Lord Hades! Share with us your legion, what is it you have in mind for these humans?"

With and exaggerated stutter and voice of uncertainty he replied. "I will… We will use them… exchange their lives… for um… that of the 13 knights. YES! And exchange of lives."

"You think the 13 great knights would exchange their lives for these wretches?"

Hades met his gaze. "I know so."

"Take the remaining prisoners back to their ship, and lock them in the hold." As they were led away Hades made eye contact with as many of them as he could. All of them just stared back at him in amazement. They thought this being had saved their lives. Some were even staring back at him from the boats as they rowed out to the ship.

When they were all loaded into the hold the of ship the captain of the guards asked Hades, "What should we do with the bodies?"

"Eat them…" They both let out bellows of laughter for a moment. Even thought they were enemies several months ago the beasts and humans worked side by side. Eating them seemed… wrong…

"Ahh…. No seriously… what do we do with the bodies?"

"Take some men and bury them on the other side of the hill, I don't want to risk the humans seeing them." With that they separated and Hades approached Chaos and Bahamut. "So… what did you think of my act?"

Chaos began a slow clap, and Bahamut leisurely commented. "They'll follow you barefoot into the pits of hell after what you've done."

"Follow me they shall, then I'll have them usurpt the devil and name me king. That will be the depth of their loyalty to me… You're brothers will be avenged through them."

"What do you have in mind?" inquired Chaos.

"There are 13 maidens and 7 men aboard that ship. Lets just say that with the help of my chemistry set…" he patted the pouch hanging in his shoulder. Chaos was one of the few who knew that the satchel was filled with poisons and various chemicals. "The maidens will not be as… _pure_ as they are now. And when they meet the 13 knights there will be an interesting reaction." Hades let out another laugh and began making his way down the beach again, where he would catch a ride to the humans ship. There he would begin his preparations for their arrival at the next continent.

"What do you think he's planning?" Bahamut asked.

"I think I know… and it's pretty bad." Chaos replied. They both began walking down the beach to help with the move.

* * *

"I don't like Hades summon anymore" Yuffie casually commented. 

Chaos scoffed at her comment. "I never liked him when he was'nt a summon. Originally he was a cleric. Using natural herbs and minerals he would cure various diseases. But while creating various potions he also learned how to create certain diseases. As a cleric he was continuously exposed to the sick, and from his exposure he grew immune to all forms of disease and sickness. He even learned how to manipulate it to a degree. From what I understood it was his fame as a cleric that originally got him a place in the High council. While on the high council he focused greatly on civil rights and freedoms. You can't imagine how he felt when he learned that his life's works were all gone to nothing. So he became this… _dark_ evil **mage**… _**guy**_…"

"A mage? So he used materia?" Vincent asked.

"Beasts can't use materia. However we can learn magic without materia."

"Sooo… whatever happened with those people?" asked Yuffie. Hades began to walk along the beach, they followed after him.

"Hades approached them on the ship and told them he wanted to defect, that he couldn't stand the war anymore and just wanted to leave it. So when they reached the next continent he would help them all escape if they took him with them. They eagerly agreed. When we were half way across the sea, he led the seven men on a staged hostile takeover on the boat, the using some flash-powder he tricked the humans on board into believing he stopped the wind in our sails, in reality we dropped anchor and gave him a one-hour head start. When we started again we nearly caught up with them, which would have been pretty bad, but we had to give chase to create the impression they had escaped. When they reached the coast they beached their ship, and unloaded some supplies as quickly as possible. Using the Chocobos stored on the vessel they made their way towards the second to last human city left. The 13 knights brought the refugees there first as a waypoint; afterwards they would have taken them under the mountain to their capital where Odin and Alexander had their city. The area would be somewhere between Kalm and the Chocobo ranch.

There was another bright flash, and they found themselves riding on the lower back of Bahamut yet again. Bahamut was slowly making circles in the air. The demon Chaos was standing near his head looking downwards. The other three moved to look over his side as well. A little off to the distance there was a makeshift city, with high wooden walls, the people looked like ants. Below them were 16 Chocobos, some holding two people some one. Hades was riding with them. They were riding towards the city. Quickly following behind them were eight leopards like creatures following closely, but still keeping a safe distance. Suddenly from the small wooden city there was a series of whoops and cheers, as its large gates swung open and thirteen slightly larger ants began riding towards the fleeing humans. A few minutes later they intercepted them, the leopard like creatures withdrew as they were ordered to do.

It was now noon, the sun was directly overhead. Bahamut began a sharp descent directly above the group of 34 so they would have a better look. The 13 knights between the refugees and the city. They dismounted to greet their fellows. The escapees with Hades began dismounting to thank their saviors as well. Hades feigned a cough and fell to the ground, and his hood came loose revealing his skinless, demonic face. The 13 knights quickly reacted. They unsheathed their swords and began to advance on their enemy. The thirteen women did just as Hades expected them to, they threw themselves at the knights, and the men made every attempt to put some distance between them and Hades. Bahamut was now low enough to where they could hear some of the vague cries; "He saved us from human eating monsters!" "When others would starve us he gave us food!" "He wishes to join us in a search for peace!" "He has done no wrong to you, why do you attack him so?!" The last comment made Chaos chuckle for a moment. If the three of them were on the ground they would see that Hades still had not moved from his position on the ground. He wasn't facing the knights so no one could see his face. His eyes were closed, and with his hands he was making various hand gestures, and as silently as he could he was repeating a spell he had memorized earlier that morning. Then he began to stand still making the still making the hand movements, and in a normal speaking voice reciting the spell. There was too much commotion, and no one noticed Hades' chanting until he was nearly screaming it. Even then the women and men turned in shock to stare at him. They never saw it coming. The knights tried to push through them, but it was too late. The men and women's bodies exploded, and the general area was covered with a dark green mist. Over the voyage Hades had fed them generously. Concealed in their food was a compacted poison gas and a highly unstable compound laced with magic to give Hades control over its.

The explosion didn't kill the knights, that job was reserved for the poison. All the Chocobos had scattered at the explosion, save one. The sons of Odin were all grounded, coughing and gagging. Their vision was gone, and they were quickly losing all feeling in their bodies. They felt as if their insides had turned to mush, and slowly their blood began to slow in flow. In a few hours the 12 sons of Odin would be dead. Normal humans would have died on the spot, but there was nothing normal about them, they were the grand children of a demi-god. One fourth of their blood came directly from Shiva. That is how Arthur survived. Arthur was the second son of Alexander and Shiva, younger brother to Odin, and leader of Odin's 12 sons. His blood was half demi-god.

During the explosion Arthur was thrown back like the rest, and poisonous fumes had their effect on him too, but it would take much longer for him to die of it. From above Chaos and Bahamut could see everything. They saw a lone figure amongst the strewn bodies slowly crawling towards Hades. Bahamut and Chaos tried to signal to him but there was nothing they could do, the layer of gaseous poison on the ground was still too thick, from the inside you probably couldn't see out. Hades himself was slightly out of it. The spell had taken a lot out of him, his eyes were somewhat bleary, and he could hear nothing save his heartbeat. He just sat on a rock catching his breath, and lone knight made his way towards him. Gently Arthur got up on his knees, and using his sword to support him then onto his feet. His vision was going in and out, and he attempted to make his way towards the figure in the mist. He began to stumble, but managed to stop himself from falling. Slowly but surely he made his way towards Hades.

This monstrous figure that had murdered his nephews and all those people was sitting before him. Arthur was facing his back. Hades was staring at the ground rubbing his temples with his hands waiting for his vision to clear up, and his heart beats to silence. With a great heave Arthur managed to bring the hilt of the blade to his chest, the blade was resting on his shoulder. He just stood still for a moment taking giant breaths, the effort had knocked the wind out of him.

Hades looked up, his vision had begun to clear… well it was as clear as it could be in this sea of him he had created. He really had to compliment himself, in one foul swoop he had managed to kill all 13 knights. 'That's why _I_ will win this war, because of my extreme cunning. Who else could have created such a great strategy?' It was almost as brilliant as the position he had set Chaos into. 'Speaking of Chaos, after the humans in their city are captured I can use him to perform a similar strategy. We don't have the numbers to destroy Odin's city in the North, so we'll give him hostages in exchange for a match with Chaos. After Chaos is defeated with a little help…' Hades smiled to himself. 'and after Odin has returned to his city with all the bombs, err.. humans… I'll detonate them. There will be so many infected, that by the next morning when the poison has dissipated, we'll easily invade and kill off what ever managed to survive. Its brilliant! I'll get rid of Chaos, I've killed the 13 knights so Bahamut will be loyal to me, and then with the army's support I'll control the world…' Hades sat on his rock and contemplated a moment more before he realized he had recovered his hearing. Only turning his head slightly to the right when he heard a low whooshing sound, then a crash like metal into weak flesh.

Arthur lay on the ground, not yet dead but getting there. Getting up on his hands and knees he examined the figure next to him. Whatever it was, it was still alive, but judging from how deep his sword was embedded in its neck he guessed it only had a few minutes left. No healer or cleric could mend that would in time. With a great force of will Arthur got to his feet, and began a slow walk to the edge of the mist. 'For now I'll leave the sword.' He thought. 'I'll return for it and their bodies after I've been healed at Odin's city… If I'm healed at Odin's city.' When he reached the edge of the misty poison cloud, he gave out a shrill whistle. The one remaining Chocobo trotted up to him, and bent its knees down to its owner could more easily mount him. After Arthur had strapped himself in for a long journey he leaned forward and whispered in the Chocobo's ear, "Take me home, take me back to Odin's city." The Chocobo gave off a loud Wark!! Then began sprinting for the cave. It remembered there was a cave to the North he would have to pass through. He (the Chocobo) would have to be careful. 'I now have a rider' he thought to himself. Then he would have to cross the marsh and at the same time avoid the giant land worm that would chase after them. Then it would be a half-day's run to his home where the other Chocobos had probably already returned. Of all the species of beasts there are only two that retained their original capacities for knowledge, one was the fire dogs of the western continent (Red XIII) and the other were the Chocobos, which weren't very smart to begin with, but even after so many generations retained their strong will, culture, and loyalty

Chaos pointed the Chocobo out to Bahamut. "Should we go after them?" Bahamut asked.

"No, if he was in the poison cloud he'll be dead soon enough." Chaos replied. "We need to find Hades, I lost sight of him a while back. Bring us down lower and begin flapping your wings into the mist. It will take hours to thin on its own."

Bahamut carefully dropped to a lower altitude and began flapping his wings into the cloud, the misty green air flew in all directions and slowly the mist disappeared entirely. Afterwards Bahamut quickly flew down and landed with a thump. The two of them began searching through the bodies for Hades. They found him not far from where they had lost sight of him. He was dead. Arthur's sword was embedded halfway through his neck. They left the bodies and looked over fields towards the city. There were close to 500 people… 500 more casualties of this war.

On of the army's generals approached them. While Hades was enacting his plan for killing the Knights, Chaos had the generals move the remaining beast legions into strategic position unseen from the city.

"Sir, all units are in position. We believe the humans are unaware of our position."

'Not that anyone from the city would have noticed.' Chaos thought to himself. 'First thing their 13 saviors ride out to help some refugees, then the entire group is enveloped in a green mist, shortly afterwards one of the knights rides out of the mist in the wrong direction, finally a large dragon and demon clear the mist and reveal that 12 of their knights are dead.' Chaos sighed once as he looked out over the plain. 'It must hurt how scared they are. Time to bring that fear to rest' "Begin the siege. Remember conservation of life is a priority." Chaos turned around and walked back to look at the various bodies. With his bear hands he began to dig their graves.

The host Chaos was still standing on the hilltop staring out at the city. "We laid siege to that city for two days before it fell. We didn't loose a single solider. However 117 beasts went insane during that campaign." Chaos spread his arms out to his sides and drew in a great breath, then slowly let it out. "Its nearly over.."

* * *

Well it is nearly over now... the section on Chaos anyways. I still have a couple chapters left until i finishe the entire thing. Gosh today has been busy. Stay up till about 4am, trying to start my second fic, wake up at 8 to call my boss. We bitch at eachother. Around 12 i go to work and turn in my stuff. Lay around the house till about 5 when i get a call from my friend mary. Seems my good friend who was going to get back from japan after one year is arriving six hours earlier than any of us expected. So quick as we can we organize our old high school rabble and rush to the air-port to greet him. Only two of us actually made it. Afterwards we all go back home. I get bored, Dan and I start drivng around randomly visitin people. We start with our mutual friend Zach who was workin at Crescent City Bengnis (however you spell it.) and end with Lauren, whose mom was kind enough to feed us dinner. Then in a large group of 7 we visit mary in her new house, and hang out there for like three hours. Now its like 12.30 and i'm dropping lauren back at her house. We talk for like half an hour more then i go back to another friend's house and we play halo till 2am when my parents finally call me on my cell and say its too late to be screwing around.   
  
For the record though the loss of my job really doesn't bother me. Along with about 400$ of free cutlery i took much more out of that place than i put in. Anyways, any experience you can walk away from is a good one. Making conversation (building rapport as they callled it.) is now much more easier.   
  
Neko-Yuff16: Thanks for the support, really appreciate it!   
  
Ezri-Candi: Thanks for your comment. The last paragraph i came up with right before i updated. I thought it lacked a proper ending and that just seemed to pop into my head, glad you liked it! Playing around with Chaos's character was pretty fun. At first i just wanted him to look down on everybody and make his attitude like; I'm better than you all, and i can make lame jokes to show it. But as i was writing the story and trying to establish Chaos's purpose, I just seemed to drop the superiority thing and make him more into a wise-cracking jaded old soul. Originally i wanted a huge showdown between Vincent and Chaos, and maybe i can still do that. Could be fun... But you won't know until like chapter 18 or 19 maybe...   
  
SR: Its always interesting to think of character's origins, what caused them to be as they are, what events changed their lives, just how did things work out that way for them. When you already have a general idea on how things went down, it can make it alot easier than writing a epilogue sometimes.  
Eva: Thanks! I appreciate the compliment.  
Pixie: heh heh thanks!  
Felichel: Things get slightly sadder for Chaos in the end, but things brighten up... Kinda...  
  
Cattiebrie393: Why should you feel like a freak? Thanks for the Support!  
  
Hotaru170: Glad to hear it! Thanks again!

* * *

Read and Review!   



	14. Shadows and Dust

14) Shadows and Dust

* * *

The city was on fire. Inside in the center of the makeshift city lying on the pyre was Hades. It was the farewell they offered to the leader who had brought them this far. The army that surrounded it watched it burn until morning when all the fuel was spent. The morning winds scattered the ashes. 

There was only one thing left to do now, and it would prove to be the hardest task for the remnants of the army. They had to destroy Odin's city. Unlike this place it was defended. There were archers on the wall, knights in the courtyard. But more importantly these archers and knights would be fighting on the defensive. It was much easier to defend than to attack, much easier to stand your ground rather than take someone else's, especially when you have high walls protecting you. They just had to survive, the army had to conquer. Chaos was now acting commander of the army. Bahamut was his second in command. Chaos broke off his silent reverie and called together his generals. 

"Assemble the men, board the ships and sail around the mountains. I want our forces surrounding the city of Odin by noon tomorrow." The generals just stared at him. He ignored their stares and continued. "Have the men form groups when you get there. There won't be many humans left in the city, I expect you'll have to track them over the plains." With that Chaos moved off towards Bahamut, after getting on his back, the massive beast took off in air. 

The generals just turned to one another and spoke amongst themselves. "He's crazy if he thinks we can destroy that city as we are. We're at a complete strategic disadvantage." Another general countered, "Its too late in the game to choose sides. Frankly I'm prepared to take a few things on faith." He quickly shuffled off and began to assemble the men. The other generals followed suit. 

Yuffie, Vincent, and Chaos had followed the conversation from the back of Bahamut. Yuffie turned to face Chaos. "What are you planning? You said that they would have to track the humans over the plains, what does that mean?" 

"What does it usually mean? I expected the humans would choose not to stay in their castle by the time I was finished with it." he coldly replied. "This… Will probably be… This is… the most devastating defeat in this entire war." 

All three of them moved to the front, and watched the flight. In a matter of minutes they were closing in on the mountain range between the two areas. After they passed over, Yuffie could see the shadow of the great Midgar Zolom in the marsh below. He snaked and moved in such a way. Soon they were over the marsh and in the distance Yuffie saw a shining city. There were flatlands on each side. Attacking the city seemed like an impossible task. High Walls and guard towers at each corner. In the center of the city there seemed to be a tall tower that shimmered like an emerald in the light. 

Bahamut began speaking with Chaos. "We are here. What is it you intend to do now?" 

In a stern voice, "I can do nothing. Our future is now in your hands." 

Bahamut was taken aback, "Wh… What?" 

"Your dragon's breath blast, like you brother's you must use it to crush the city." 

"Only dragon's much older than myself are capable of it. My older brothers were both over 500 years my senior," Bahamut Lamented. 

"I've watched you perform in battle feats that would astound your brothers. The only thing stopping you is your lack of confidence in yourself." Chaos moved back a bit on his neck. "I believe in you, why won't you believe in yourself?" 

Bahamut rapidly dropped to a lower altitude. The city was directly ahead of them, and was growing in size at an alarming rate. 

"What are you doing?" Chaos screamed. 

"I won't give them a chance to use their gravity trap on me. I'll fire while we're still moving through the are!" 

"Uhhh, are you sure you'll have enough room to pull out going at this speed?" Chaos nervously inquired. 

Bahamut let out a bellow of laughter, "We'll soon see!" 

Chaos changed in position prepared for a quick escape, if need by he could catch the wind and float down to the soft ground. All Yuffie, Vincent, and Chaos could see from where stood they stood was they could see the back of Bahamut's head. Suddenly there was a source of bright light just in front of his face, the radiant light strung out in rays in all directions. Suddenly there was a blast and the bright streak of bluish white energy flew through the morning sky and struck the wall of the city vaporizing it completely. In fact it vaporized everything completely until it struck the base of the great tower in the center of the city. The tower fell over like a tree under the axe of a lumberjack, the shimmering light at the top of the tower was now gone. 

The power and force of the blast had slowed Bahamut down greatly; they were now slowly passing over the city observing the destruction. He took a sad pride in the shattered walls, the broken houses, crumbling buildings, the torn roads… but… 

Yuffie had a quizzical look on her face. "Um… Vinny? Shouldn't there be people down there?" 

As if on cue Chaos began searching with his eyes, he did not see any casualties in the wreckage. Quickly he spread his wings and wind caught him up of Bahamut's back. Bahamut soon passed over the rest of the city while Chaos gently glided down into the city. When he landed he immediately ran to the first intact house. After entering and looking around for signs of life he came to the conclusion that he feared the most, 'Just s I suspected they left at least two days ago. They couldn't have gone far… This entire region is all plains… Where could they have go? Leviathan is guarding against an escape by sea, so they must still be somewhere on the continent.' Just as that last thought crossed his mind he heard Bahamut holler his name as he passed over the city once again. Chaos ran outside, and looked for his friend, Bahamut passed over once again, but much slower, as if he were landing. Chaos ran to his destination, All the way to the Western edge of the city to the great gates that opened out into the plains. There was a vast opening within the city at the gate. In the center was a large monument, like an obelisk. Bahamut was standing with his back to the gate reading it. Chaos ran beside him and likewise began to read its inscription. 

"In the future when children whisper to each   
other tales of the great 13 knights, may it be   
known that this was their city. The city where  
they grew up, where they learned to fight, to   
ride, to shoot to love. It was in defense of this  
city, and of all people that together they rode   
out as a beacon of light to those who had fallen   
to darkness. May it be known that they fought  
until the bitter end in defense of the innocent,   
against those who would destroy us for being   
just as we are, human. May this monument to   
their honor and glory serve also as their   
tombstone, even though only one of them is   
buried here.   
  
Rest in Peace,   
Arthur sons of High-Lord Alexander and Demi-God Shiva  
Rest in Peace,   
Sons of Odin  


Bahamut turned to Chaos. "How did they know of their deaths?" 

It dawned on Chaos, "That chocobo we saw. Arthur… it must have been him riding it… Of all the knights his bond to the gods is strongest, it must have protected him long enough for him to come back and explain what happened. That's the only explanation." Chaos stepped forward and traced his fingers over the words, 'those who would destroy us for being just as we are, human.' He tapped his finger on the stone and looked to the ground. 'I wish only to be vindicated from this charge. We had no choice, there was nothing we could do. Was there?' 

"Chaos!" Bahamut interrupted him from his thought. "When I first flew over the city, I heard a voice in the wind. I only noticed this when I came back to search for you." 

Chaos nodded. Closing his wings back in again he quickly climbed on Bahamut's back and they soon took off into the air. Again they were going north, close to the ground, but much more slowly, they were both listening for the fell voice in the air. Chaos's hand darted forth and pointed in a North Westerly direction. "That way!" Bahamut shifted his weight and they continued again. 

Yuffie crossed her arms and exclaimed, "What voice? I didn't hear anything!" 

Chaos shrugged. 

Vincent took the time to explain, "He is a demon, he has a… heightened sense of hearing." 

Yuffie glared at Vincent for a moment, "Can you hear it oh wise one?" 

Vincent turned back and stared off over Bahamut's shoulder. 

Yuffie ended the conversation with a mildly victorious "Thought so." 

As they neared the sea the voice became louder and clearer. Chaos could only pray to himself that what he was expecting was not who they would find. They came to a small inlet leading into the sea, and Chaos knew it was over. There was a small by in the inlet, and two thin landmasses created a choke point leading into the sea. There was an empty dock at the innermost shore. Chaos quickly scanned over this, then began looking around the rest of the bay for any other sources of life. That's when they saw him. Beached on the Western shore of the bay was none other than the great sea beast himself Leviathan. Beached on the shore and writhing in pain, Leviathan was calling out different curses in more languages than Chaos knew of. It was only when they landed that they all saw the true extent of his pain. His entire side was blackened, it must have been hit with something truly dreadful. Some areas had a layer of dead blackened skin, slightly less areas had a thin pus coating forming over itself, far less had nothing altogether. Had he not beached himself on his good side his blood would have flown out, and Leviathan died of these near mortal wounds. 

Chaos dismounted Bahamut and moved closer to Leviathan. "Great High lord Leviathan, tell us who has wounded you so, so we may seek vengeance in your name." 

Leviathan had been concentrating on his own pain, he had not noticed their coming. "Alexander…." 

Bahamut looked at him in surprise. "Alexander? But Alexander is only human, how could one man do so much?" 

Leviathan's voice was filled with a steady malice now, "Alexander has a new… toy…" Leviathan averted his eyes for a moment. "I'm sorry Chaos, I let them escape." His voice began to sound desperate. 

Chaos moved closer. "Calm down, just tell me what happened." 

"Two days ago… I heard voices… from here… I came to check what they were, and suddenly a great wave of energy hit me. Not a wave… a beam… I'm lucky it mainly grazed by side… But then I saw it… 10 ships. It looked like they had packed their entire population onto those 10 ships. But there were two more… yes.. two more that were carrying Alexander… and Odin… and Alexander's… CONTRAPTION! You should have seen it! It was huge, they needed those two ships side by side simply to carry it. They were going to kill me… But some of the humans from one of the boats begged them to spare my life. They said that since I was limited to the sea, I could not hurt them when they arrived at their new homes." 

Chaos was frantic now. The worst-case scenario had just taken place. If the humans had scattered to all the different continents two days ago, they had close to no chance of ever catching up with them. The army of beasts was running on a deadline. 'and tops' Chaos thought to himself, 'we would have enough beasts for an army for roughly two more weeks.' There might be a few beasts who lasted through the ages, Chaos, Bahamut, and Leviathan included, but they would be alone. They had lost the war, the race of beasts had failed. 

"There is more…" Leviathan choked out. "Alexander held an assembly on the boats, I heard what they spoke about. He said that so long as the beasts had their champions the human race might still fall. So he has elected himself and his son to challenge you." 

"To what?" Chaos was speechless, Bahamut was giddy. 

"That old man and his son? Against us? We've crushed armies together, and they think two mere humans can defeat us?" 

Leviathan became angry, "Don't underestimate them! Look what they did to me!!" 

"Quiet both of you!" Chaos interjected. "What else did they say?" 

"The men from the ships said they would go with them, to protect them. He replied to all of their offers: 'I will allow no other to follow me where I am going. Go now you are all forgiven.' Not a man moved, their eyes glazed straight ahead till one by one they stepped back and not a word was said. And old Alexander was left with his son and his own words echoing in his head. He then prepared to fight. [Dispatch – General]" Leviathan took a moment to catch his breath. "They came to me afterwards. They said they would wait for both of you on the Northern Continent, where the slaughter began." 

Chaos stood up. "I guess of all places, there makes most sense." 

"Chaos…" Leviathan called out once more. "I should be mostly healed in about two weeks. Concerning the war…" 

"The war is over Leviathan… We lost… You may do as you wish. Personally… I've given up too much for this… So many innocent people have died because of me, it would probably be wisest for me to end my own life…" Leviathan's heavy breathing stopped for a moment, and Bahamut gave him a concerned look. "But I would hate to keep Alexander and Odin waiting. Bahamut! Would you fight by my side?" 

"War or no war I stand by you my brother in arms. Should we fall I will only be quickened in my fraternal reunion. Should we prevail, I'll… I will continue as I did before the war." 

Leviathan looked up at the others, "If I do survive this… then I will find those humans who saved my life. They will have a hard life where they have chosen to live. It will be years until the ground gives them enough to support themselves. I will make sure that the sea will provide more than enough for them to survive. So long as I live, those people will live under my protection." 

"Where is this place?" Bahamut asked. "I'll visit you after our victory." 

"The long island West of the Western continent. (Wutai)" He replied. "East of here." He laughed out. 

The three said their good-byes. Chaos and Bahamut left Leviathan on that beach, and began flying North towards the Northern Continent.

* * *

Both were deadly silent during the trip. They were concentrating on the upcoming battle. What weapon could have dealt such a near mortal wound to the great leviathan? They were about five miles away from the continent when Chaos began to speak. "Drop some altitude, take us along the shore west of here." So Bahamut did, and they slowly passed near the shore, and Chaos intently scanned it as they passed by. He was searching for one spot in particular, the spot where the war began for him. When he finally found that small clearing on the cliff he unfurled his wings and flew off Bahamut's back to the spot. 'It is still here, right where I left it.' Jacks and Litia's grave. To the dead he said, "I'm sorry for desecrating your grave old friend, but I'll return your tombstone when I finish this battle." Still stuck in the ground at their heads was Chaos's demon sword. "It has nothing to do with the war. This is a private challenge, so I feel justified in using this." With one hand he pulled the sword out of the loose earth and slung it over his shoulder. Then he walked over to the edge of the cliff and jumped off, flapping his wings to gain altitude. Bahamut came around for another pass, when he was nearly under Chaos, Chaos closed in his wings and dropped down onto Bahamut. 

"Got a new toy I see." 

"A little something I picked up from an old friend." In no time they were back in the air, looking for signs of Odin and Alexander. They wouldn't have to look long.

* * *

They were now passing over the remnants of Chaos's city, what later would be reclaimed and renamed by the Centra. 

A booming voice called out from the distance, "CHAOS!" 

Both Bahamut and Chaos looked down into the forest near the city, in a small clearing near the gates to the city stood proud Odin. "You find Alexander, I'll take care of this one." Chaos called out. With that he jumped off Bahamut and spread his wings to slow his descent. 

"Good luck!" Bahamut called back. 

Chaos landed on one side of the clearing, Odin stood tall and proud at the other. In between them stuck into the ground were numerous weapons, pikes, spears, tridents, maces, battle axes, hand axes, katanas, bastard swords, claymores, short swords, staffs, and propped up against some of the weapons were various sized shields. Odin stood ahead of him, he wore a full shining plate mail, and a helmet with two great horns sticking out of the top. 

Chaos unsheathed his sword and pointed it at Odin. "Remove your helmet so that I can verify whom it is who challenges me." 

Odin propped his sword and shield against his leg and removed his helmet. It was the same man Chaos saw at the High Council meeting. "My heart died when Arthur returned to us, and told me of my children's fate. I would have liked to face Hades, but you as his champion will just have to do." 

Chaos flashed him a smile. "Worry not High-Lord Odin, you'll be with your children soon, and there will be plenty of time to challenge Hades in life stream." Chaos looked about the clearing and smiled to himself. "You didn't overkill it with the weapons did you?" 

Odin smiled back, "Not all of us can carry an immortal blade." That reference of course was to Chaos's demon blade. Odin replaced his helmet on his head and picked up his sword and shield again. There was a loud crashing sound in the distance. Both fighters turned to their heads towards it. "Seems your friend has found my father. Prepare thyself." 

Chaos remained silent for a moment, then they rushed at each other. Dodging blows and parrying weapons, the two fighters fought sword to sword for nearly an hour. At the close of that hour half of Odin's sword fell off while he was parrying one of Chaos's blows. Odin threw the remainder of his sword at Chaos as he freed a pike from the ground. But the pike did not last long, on Odin's second stab with the pike Chaos grabbed it behind the blade and with his sword chopped it off. Quickly reacting to this, Odin used the remainder of the pike as a bat and hit Chaos over the shoulder buying him some seconds to choose a new weapon. He retreated a few feet and pulled a large battle-axe out of the ground. Both fighters then returned to their battle stance. 

"Why did you and your father decide to challenge us? It impossible for our army to track down all the humans before their madness sets in. You've already won." Chaos commented. 

Odin smirked once, "I guess you have no way of knowing. My father had a dream two days ago, the eve of my brother's return. He saw my mother. When he approached her Bahamut, and yourself blocked his path. He could not get to her. Remember what Shiva said so long ago? Something along the lines of 'the demi-gods will leave this plain until a clear victor is found.' We've already defeated Levantine, and there is little he can do so long as the people stay inland, but you and Bahamut are all that stand between us and a clear victory. With your deaths my mother will be able to return to this plain." 

Chaos pondered this for a moment, "I'm amazed your brother was able to make it back to the city. He took the full blast of the poison, killed Hades and still managed to get away." 

"Yes, he returned to us early that evening. After explaining to us what happened he went to bed with his wife and died early the next morning. He asked me to take care of his wife and the our people." His voice sounded weaker, "Broke my heart to tell him I had to kill you first." Another blast from far away rocked the ground. 

"Enough of this. We end this now!" 

"Indeed." Odin charged forward battle axe over his head and took a wide vertical swing at Chaos was taken slightly by surprise but was able to dodge back and to the side far enough to only take partial damage. The axe left a gash on his right shoulder directly above his armpit. An inch deeper and the bones in his shoulder would have been severed. The axe became deeply embedded in the earth, and while Odin tried to pull it out, Chaos gave him a left hook to face. Odin fell over to the side. Quickly getting up he removed his helmet and threw it to the side. He spit out some blood and a few of his teeth, then wiped the blood out from under his nose. There was a trident standing next to him that he selected as his next weapon. 

The fighting resumed both sides trading blows and sweating blood, suddenly Odin saw an opening. He jabbed his trident into Chaos's midsection, but Chaos was able to catch it before it penetrated anything more than the skin. Odin pushed for his life into the trident and the barbs managed to penetrate his skin, but chaos held still the trident with one hand. With the other, in one foul swoop, Chaos decapitated Odin. His lifeless body fell to the ground, his head a few feet away from it. 

Chaos groaned as he pulled the trident out from his midsection, throwing the bloodied weapon out to the side. Sadly, "You should have kept the helmet on." Chaos took to the air in the general direction of the explosions, one hand covering his stomach, the other carrying his sword.

* * *

Chaos landed and was shocked by what he saw. It was nothing short of the flaming remains of Bahamut. One of his wings was gone, and there not nothing but bone left on his right flank. "Alexander…" 

"He put up a good fight. Lasted much longer than Leviathan." Chaos turned around and saw Alexander emerge from the dense forest. 

"What… What did this?" Chaos asked in an awed voice. 

"My suit of armor." He laughed for a moment. "Hades was always an evil one. Hades. I knew it from the moment I laid eyes upon him. If the opportunity ever came, he would betray everyone to gain power. So for three years I worked on my suit, in preparation for this day." He walked up to Chaos and offered his canteen. Chaos refused. "You wouldn't believe how shocked I was when I learned Arthur killed him. I was even more shocked when I saw you in my dream. At that moment I knew I had to kill you..." He took a drink from his canteen and poured the rest of the water over his head. "If only so I can see my wife again." 

"You speak as if I was already dead…" 

"Soon enough." He began to walk back to area of tree line he had entered. "You want to see it? Its right through here." He stopped at the edge of the tree line and called out before he dove through, "You might stand a chance… If you can catch me before I get there!" For and old man, he was fairly quick. 

Chaos tore after him. Using the demon sword he tore through the vines and undergrowth that stood in his way, but Alexander was smaller, and put much distance between them. When he finally got through the forest he saw what Leviathan described as Alexander's contraption, and what he himself called a 'suit of armor'. Chaos stared up at what he would call 'the greatest war-machine of their time'. He caught a glance at Alexander standing next to the entrance of what he could only imagine to be the head at the center of this monstrosity. It stood on one giant pillar at its center, and had two more arm like pillars at its side. The top had various instruments and funny looking _things_. Chaos had no idea what those were about. But at its chest was a focusing crystal, he had a vague idea what that was for. "So… Will you face me? **I who hold the very reigns of the world?**

Chaos pumped his wings and took to the air, Alexander locked himself in his cockpit. Chaos's demon sword began to give off a purple glow while the monstrosity ahead of him started making low grumbling noises. Suddenly the area where the focusing crystal was located began to shift, and there was a bright light behind. Chaos just hovered in the air level with Alexander. Alexander just smiled as he worked his controls. As Chaos looked over the great machine he noticed that the focusing crystal had begun to give off a glimmer. Something clicked in his mind and he dove to the side, a twitch of a finger later a spear of pure energy shot through where he was. 

Chaos began making his way towards the monstrosity, weaving in and out, left and right, up and down, slowly getting closer and closer. Till finally one of Alexander's shots grazed his leg. The pain from the blast just froze Chaos mid-air for a moment in torrential pain, enough time for Alexander to put another shot through Chaos's wing. Chaos went into a nosedive and crashed into the ground. He stood up on both feet and nearly fell over when he put his weight on his hit foot. The focusing crystal shifted once more, it was aimed at his torso. Alexander was in his cockpit savoring the moment. In his right hand Chaos was still carrying the Demon sword. He looked over the monstrosity once more. 'What are those weird pointy things on the top?' he thought to himself. 'No matter. Only one thing left to do.' Chaos stepped forward on his left foot, and with his right hand he launched the demon sword at focusing crystal. Alexander didn't even notice until the lights in his cockpit began lighting up. Through the opening in front of him he could see Chaos still standing there, the exact spot he left him. 

"Alexander! I figured out what those things on the top are! They are for aerial bombardments! Like Neo and Zero Bahamut could perform. That beam cannon on your torso is your only middle range weapon!" he yelled. In a lower voice he said almost to himself, "What will you do when I come in close?" 

Alexander was busy in the cockpit checking gages, trying to figure out what would happen if he activated the beam cannon again to notice Chaos. Chaos forced down the pain in his leg and made a running jump at the mech. He landed a about level with his sword on the torso, and with his talons began climbing up the front towards Alexander. In between gages, Alexander noticed that Chaos was gone from his field of vision. 'This can't be good, I lost most of my maneuverability while fighting Bahamut. He could be anywhere.' He thought o himself. 

He lifted himself from his seat and changed to positions of his head to get a better view out of the small peephole. He leaned closer, he could hear something on his torso, like a soft tapping. Then it went silent. The fear of god was inside him, he was trapped in his cockpit, he had no idea where Chaos was his machine was now making random tapping noises. She moved a slight bit ahead to get a better look. Just like in a horror movie when the tension has built up the most a great black hand with talons for fingers shot through the peephole and made a grab for him. Alexander fell backwards, and if he was in any less good health, he would have died of a heart attack right there. 

Chaos felt around with his left hand, the cockpit must have been roomier than he thought. Pulling his arm out, he looked inside, Alexander was in his seat against the back wall flipping switches. Chaos was loosing patience with this game With his immense strength he began pulling at the armor plates at the head, hoping to make the peephole large enough for him to reach in and finally kill Alexander. 

Alexander had an idea, it was a desperate dangerous idea, but he was out completely. In his mind he was kicking himself in the ass, he had a chance to kill him once already, he failed to do so. Now he had to go through with it or he would die for sure. He flipped one last switch and watched as the pressure gage lit. "Chaos! Hang on tight, it would be a shame if you fell off now!" Alexander grabbed the controls and began shifting the legs under him. He could feel his center of gravity shift. 'This is my last chance to stop.' He thought to himself. 'No… I'll see you soon Shiva.' He pushed the controls further and the huge mech leaned dangerously forward, until finally gravity pulled it off its support and down onto the ground. 

The entire time Chaos was still venting his rage on the armor plates. With one hand he was hanging on for dear life, with the other he was still ripping layers of armor from around the peephole. He could feel the mech lean forward, but by the time he realized Alexander was trying to topple forwards it was too late. 

Chaos wasn't crushed, but he was pretty well stuck. Parts of the mech were pinning him down, he could see inside the cockpit and had a pretty good reach with one of his hands. Alexander was still strapped into his seat. 'Pity.' He thought to himself, 'If he wasn't I could have ripped him up by now.' "So, great high lord Alexander… Is this what you had planned?" 

"To a degree, no I just have to explode the focusing crystal." He began to flip switches and play with gages again. 

"Wha.. What?" Chaos wasn't sure if he had heard him correctly. "Won't that kill us both?" 

"You probably, me maybe." Alexander reached forwards and found a large red button. "I'm sorry." With his palm he slammed it in then settled back in his seat. 

The engines began to whine to life, the noise got generally louder. "Alexander! Alexander! Stop this and fight me like a man! The way your sons and grand sons fought! You should be dead! This is my victory! Have you no hon-!" But Chaos was cut off. With the cannon firing and the Focusing crystal damage the explosion was much greater than Alexander thought it would be. 

Yuffie Vincent and Chaos watched from the sideline as the entire mech came to pieces and those pieces went flying in each direction until there was nothing left. Nothing but the broken pieces of shattered dreams. 

Chaos opened his eyes. 'I'm still alive.' Then he tried to move. 'No response from either leg. One arm. Now both my wings are gone.' 

"Chaos?!" 

"Ya…." 'So Alexander was still alive.' 

"I'm sorry I had to do that." 

"If I could stand I'd kill you for it." 'jesting at a time like this…' he thought to himself. 

"I'm going to die here. I'm losing too much blood, and I can't move. My controll panel..." he laughed out. "is actually sticking through my right arm." Alexander said. 

"Same here… I lost... a few limbs, can't move." Strangely enough there was very little pain. Chaos remembered something from a medical seminar he once attended. 'When the body has suffered a mortal wound, and pain is at an extreme the brain releases a neuro toxin to block out certain receptors until death. What we plan…' Chaos let out a sigh. 

"Chaos, I did it for… I just wanted to see her once more." 

"Shiva?" 

"Yes. I just want to let you know that I understand why you joined the war, and I know what happened here. I don't think anyone can truly blame you for what happened." 

"Regardless, they were my responsibility... But… Thanks… I think we could have been friends had this not happened." Chaos began feeling around with his right hand. 

"Yes... I agree..." 

He found what he was looking for, something with a pointy edge. "When you see Shiva, give her my regards and apologies." 

"Thank you…" 

With his final breaths Chaos calmed himself. Then in a quick hand motion he took the pointy thing, whatever it was he used it to stab himself in the heart once. Yuffie saw it coming but was still shocked beyond belief. She grabbed a hold of Vincent and began hugging him like a teddy bear. She didn't want to watch anymore. With all his strengths he pulled it out and stabbed himself again. Chaos's eyes began to glaze over as he pulled the steak out once more and dropped it. 'This is what it feels like, this is what it feels like to die.' His hand fell lifeless to his side, and everything went dark. 

He was whole again, his wings and limbs were restored, and he was floating in some darkness. Then he saw it in front of him. Shiva, she floated towards him and when she reached him cupped his head in her hands and kissed him once on the forehead. "Thank you." Everything went dark. 

Yuffie was still hanging onto Vincent, she could not see him but her arms wrapped around his midsection and her head resting against his chest. From the corner of her eye she had seen what happened to Chaos, what he did to himself, and his meeting with Shiva. Vincent was holding her head with his human hand, and his other hand he had on her back. 

There was a ding and two elevator doors opened before them. Chaos stepped out of the elevator and back into the Shinra office they had originally left from. With a simple hand gesture he ushered Yuffie and Vincent out of his memories.

* * *

Well, I'm at a point in the storyline, where everything is starting to get resolved. I'm going to have to go back through some of the chapters and beef them up or something, they just seem too short. Anyways, I'm also attempting a second fic about Sephiroth, and how he became who he was, but its proving to be alot harder than I first expected. Mainly because of battles, I want to describe them, but i don't... If you understand what i mean... It just seems so boring what i have in mind, senselessly describing the movements of an army, but just saying they were victorious and moving on seems too apathetic and hollow a way out. So i'm struggling to think of an effective way to do... this... stuf... yea...

Anyways, like this story, my original thoughts on the matter weren't about Sephiroth, they were about his clone. But you can't collect 500$ without passing Go (monopoly.). So I'm gonna have to sit down sometime after the wedding and figure out what I'm gonna do. Oh ya, that reminds me, i'm gonna be at a wedding for about 1 1/2 weeks, directly afterwards we're moving my sister into her new place at med school in Dalllas. It sucks cause i've had to help her move in and out of college a grand total of eight times (twice each year.) and cause of the class timings she will never have to help me. Kinda makes me feel used... ohwell... enough whineing for now, Have fun!

Erzi-Candy: At first I was planing on making Hades angry, but noble, but decided against it after I had him kill Chaos's city. In anycase, I'm glad to hear i have your continueing support! Thanks!

Neko-Yuff16: Yep, i'm trying to do one every five days, but i'm going to be gone for a week or so. As a result the next chapter won't be out for awhile. Keep Readin! Thanks again!

Hotaru170: I'm glad to hear you like the story. I'm sure i've said it before, but part of the reason i kept on with this fic is simply because Chaos had never been done. As you read through fics like this sometimes you find one you really like. When you think back over the game or story or whatever you associate that fic with the it more than ones you don't like. Like if you found a post meteor story you loved, you might associate that as the true ending to the story. In essence thats what i wanted to do, no one has really done Chaos in depth, so i wanted to make a lasting impression on what he was like, I wanted people to remember this fic. Thanks again for your support! Good luck on Only Time!

Shadow Reaver: Thanks for the compliment! Keep reading, and i'll try to keep writing!  
Eva: Yess... indeed exploding people could be a fun turn for any fic, or a dramatic... thing depending on how you play it off... meh... Good luck!  
Pixie: Make him... or her update Destined Souls!  
Felichel: Chaos was badass, in the game he was all like 'I have wings smashy smashy!' Keep readin! glad to hear you like the story!

Cattibrie393: my mistake, i thought you meant it as a deragatory word. I know how you feel, my father makes me go camping with him like twice a month. We don't do anything, we just hang out in the middle of nowhere doing the odds and ends you do while campig. We barely even talk, and its so much fun to sit down and see what all you missed while you were gone. County fair sounds like fun! Thanks for the review!

Paine Kisaragi: Glad to hear you like it! I'm nearly finished with it, but i'll be gone for awhile starting this week. So I'll update if i can! Keep readin, and thanks again!

--Iflyte


	15. A Powerful Will

WARNING: Mainly filler, i'll put a new chapter up in 2 days, before i leave again. Also, no time to spell check, sorry!

* * *

15) A Power Will

* * *

"Not just anyone can transmutate into a summon material." Chaos began. They had just stepped off the elevator and the door closed behind them. "It takes a great will to complete an objective, and it takes an even grater failure to finish it. I failed to protect my people, Hades failed to take over the world, Odin failed to see his line succeed. The demy-gods too, their failure was to create a lasting peace. Even after the war between men and beasts the humans kept fighting amongst themselves, and the demi-gods passed into shadow their failure being a succession of wars that lasted nearly 200 years. But Alexander thought he failed…" 

Yuffie stepped forward from the elevator. "What do you mean 'thought he failed'?" 

"Alexander like Odin wanted to see his line continue. That's what all men want. To watch some part of themselves go on into the future. In reality, he only recently failed." Chaos turned around and began walking back towards the desk in the center of the room. "Arthur spent his last night on Earth with his wife. There was no way for him to know it, but from his seed a boy was born. That boy's parentage was actually subject to some of the wars that the demi-gods failed to steady. Many generations later as a tribe eventually his blood permeated throughout to the point where all the members of that tribe were indirectly related to Alexander, and to Shiva. Shiva was a servant to the planet, so as a tribe they moved to a spot they where they felt they could be closer to the planet…" 

Vincent looked up, "The City of the Ancients." 

"The Centra." Yuffie gasped out. 

"The temple of the Ancients was build over the ruins of the old city by Shiva and her Centra. Afterwards she decided to leave this plain, and her people." 

Vincent stepped forward rubbing his chin with his hand. "That would mean, that Aeris… was the last of Alexander's line." 

Yuffie sheepishly stepped forward. "Did you… hold any animosity towards Aeris? After all her ancestor killed you." 

"I fought for my race's survival, Alexander fought for what he believed in. I was actually relieved somewhat when I figured out that his line survived. While we were enemies, we could have been friends under other circumstances." Chaos pulled the chair at the desk out and plopped down in the seat, then put his feet up on the desk. "Somewhat like watching your best friend's daughter grow up…" With a slim grin he glanced at Vincent. 

Vincent looked away. 

Yuffie looked confused. "Wait… What?" 

"It doesn't matter." Vincent cut in, eager to change the subject. "We understand, failed objectives is what creates summon materias." 

"Not just failed objectives. There must be a great strength, and enormous power." Chaos put his hands behind his head. "Sephiroth for example, Rufus for another. Tseng, and Hojo maybe. All of them had their hopes and dreams ripped away from them. Sephiroth attempted to become a god, only to be destroyed hours before his will was complete. Rufus wanted to create an empire, only to watch it get ripped apart under him. Tseng was never able to see to his children (Turks) safety. Hojo… well you saw to Hojo's fate…" 

"Not that he deserved anything less." Yuffie added in. She stared at Vincent for a moment, and he stared back. 

"In any case." Chaos continued. "The base requisite is power. You must be powerful. And your objectives cannot be complete, or at least you must think that." 

Vincent sighed. "So you transmutated into a materia. What happened afterwards?" 

"There is a process. Death comes first. You become one with the life-stream. You meet and merge with everyone and everything. Plants, beasts, ocean, everything. But at the same time you retain yourself." Chaos took his feet off the desk. "Your power is what makes your essence different from the rest, and your incomplete lives is what drives you away. After enough time away from the main body of life-stream you begin to form your own soft shell that eventually forms into a materia-orb. After that its only a matter of time before you are found, and used." 

"But do you know how you came to be apart of me?" Vincent asked. 

"As a summon materia-orb you are in a near constant state of solace, similar to being apart of the life-stream itself. But you have an extremely limited view of the world around you. In combat I was used near 3000 times and changed hands for close to 900 years before Hojo acquired myself and Odin for his experiment. Using some device he regressed my materia orb back into a liquid life-stream form. What happened after that is much more fractured. After introducing the Jenova cells into your body, Hojo injected you with the blood of Galian beast which was killed while roaming the mountains in southern Wutai, the death gigas which was killed roaming the mountains in the Northern continent and the Hell masker which was created by Hojo specifically for you. A little bit of myself was inserted; Lucrecia stole the rest when she left. It was my presence and that of Jenova that kept you from rejecting the Galian Beast, Death Gigas and Hell masker. After that… well you were there…" 

"So that's how it happened…" 

"Yes…" Chaos leaned forward palms flat against the table. "But now onto the resultant state. What will you do, concerning me, when you get out of here?" 

Yuffie looked up. Vincent took a deep breath before replying. "I suppose, we'll be making a trip to the Temple of the Ancients in the near future…" 

Chaos sighed, Yuffie beamed, and Vincent wondered if he made the right decision. 

"Still.." Yuffie began, "Why did you have to show us that war, and how you died?" Yuffie questioned. 

Chaos shrugged. "I'm not entirely sure why I decided to myself." Chaos replied. "But it made me feel better… So I went with it." 

"Rime of the Ancient Mariner…" Vincent casually commented. 

"Indeed…" 

"Pelican hanging around your neck?" Yuffie questioned. Literature wasn't her strong suit, but she knew enough to almost hold her own. 

"Albatross." Vincent and Chaos corrected at the same time. 

For a brief moment there was silence. 

"Go now, I'll be waiting here when this all ends. I'll hinder your journey no longer." Chaos picked up an apple off the table, as Yuffie and Vincent quickly made their way across the room towards the fourth and final doorway. 

Chaos examined the apple for a moment and made a movement as if to eat it. At the last moment he stopped and placed it back in the fruit basket in the table. Sighing once he looked down at the basket. 'It would all end soon.'

* * *

NA: Ya…. I didn't like this chapter too much. Actually i just made this. We got home from Chicago close to three hours ago. After reading through the last few chapters to see if they made sense I realized I had no transition. They just sorta jumped from the elevator to Vincent's later memories. So I threw this in, and added some points about being dead to fill in some space. You see, originally the 16th chapter was the 10th . But it occurred to me that if they finish Vincent's memories they'd have no reason not to leave, so I would have to throw in Chaos's piece before they finished. 

Sides, the last chapter was around 5,000 words, this one is around 1000. I figure it sorta evens out. I've been trying to make each chapter over 2000 words, but in light that most of the chapters are above 4000, i'm not too worried if i don't hit my mark once in a while. 

'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' for those of you who don't know it is the story of a man. Basically, this dude is on this ship when it gets blown off course. The crew decides to follow an albatross cause albatri are signs of good luck to sailors. Being a complete asshole the dude decides to shoot the albatross. As a result his crew dies, his suffers some and he has to wear the albatross around his neck as a sign of his burden and ill deeds. In order to relieve the burden and pain he has to tell his story to different people. It's a story about about respecting all forms of life. 

I love you people for your reviews! R&R its how I know you care! 

Hotaru170: Thanks! I'll keep writing. I just have close to one chapter left, now I just have to proof read them and beef them up some! keep readin1 

Ezri-Candy: Its always fun when you have an idea about how the battle should go, and you're able to effectively write it out. It took alot of time and a thesaurus but it was worth it. Glad to hear you liked it. 

Empress-Eerian-Sadow: Ya, rather than let him get killed, i decided i'd let Chaos choose his own time and at the same time perform a good deed for Alexander. The wedding was a hit, apparently I'm a 'compliment to my entire family.' (Preacher's words not mine. [we ate dinner together at the rehersal dinner. Kinda sucked cause everyone else at the table was atleat 25 {generous number probably closer to 40} years older than me, but he was pretty cool]) Nevertheless its great to be home. 

Paine Kisaragi: lol, i appreciate the comment, I'll try to update on the road next time i'm out of town. Its just kinda hard cause my parents make me leave my laptop at home. Keep readin! 

Neko-Yuff16: Sniff sniff Don't feel bad for poor chaos, for he went to a better place, and rejoined his people... 

Again, i'm sorry for this chapter... I'll update Fri. morning.


	16. Things come Together

16) Things Can Come Together

* * *

Yuffie was standing at the edge of town, the entryway to Nibelhiem. It looked slightly different than the town she had visited with Avalanche, but everything was basically the same. She and Vincent were standing in the shadow of one of the buildings, directly ahead of them facing out towards the grasslands was a lone figure dressed in khaki pants, and a lab coat. He had black hair and wire frame glasses. Hojo was waiting for the return of his fellow researchers. 

In the distance they could see a vehicle moving in their direction; it was kicking up plenty of dirt in its wake. A minute later it was parked on the outskirts of the city. And out stepped six people. Lucrecia Mayer, John Edgar Gast, Vincent Horatio Valentine and three Shinra heavies. Lucrecia darted out of the vehicle and into Hojo's arms. Gast just elbowed Vincent as they eyed the couple. 

"You ever hear anything about this Hojo guy?" Vincent whispered to Gast. 

"Classic geeky indoor scientist stuff." He replied they both began to move forward to introduce themselves. "Pet rats, would have been albino if not for sunlamps. That sorta crap." 

"Lucrecia seems to like him." Vincent said. Off the bat he did not want to dislike this man. After all, if someone as beautiful as Lucreica could love him, he had no doubt there was a good man inside. 

As Vincent and Gast approached Lucrecia and Hojo broke off their embrace. Hojo held out his hand to Gast. "Professor Gast! I'm delighted to meet you. I've heard so much about you." 

"The feeling is mutual." Gast gave him a hardy shake. "I've heard you've accomplished many great things out here." 

"Indeed we have. After lunch why don't I show you?" 

Vincent opened his mouth to introduce himself, but Hojo had already turned around to head towards the mansion. Lucrecia quickly glanced at Vincent and Gast before she gently grabbed Hojo's arm. "Hojo! Uhh... Let me introduce you to the bodyguard Shinra has assigned us. Hojo, Vincent Valentine. Vincent, Richard Hojo." 

Hojo held out his hand. "It's a pleasure." 

"Likewise." Vincent returned. Hojo turned around once again to leave, but Vincent stopped him. "Before you leave, maybe you should check over your equipment. It was a very bumpy ride from Cosmo Canyon, and if anything was damaged, we can go ahead and order a replacement while our ride is still here. Instead of waiting for the courier in three days." 

"I don't think that's necessary. Everything looks well packed." Hojo gave Vincent an icy grin. 

"Actually." Gast interrupted the conversation. "That's not a bad idea. From what I hear there are lots of amazing things going on here, I'd hate to be delayed because some equipment got damaged. Besides, this will only take a few minutes." Gast walked to the back of the vehicle where the heavies were unloading their equipment. 

"I'll give you a hand." Hojo replied, and hurried over to help Gast. 

"I'll take your personals to the mansion." Vincent called out. Vincent walked back to the vehicle and grabbed his own and Gast's duffle bags. He was reaching for Lucrecia's when she snatched it away from him. 

"I'll carry my own stuff! Thank you." She called out in a cheery voice as she made her way ahead of Vincent. "Besides I have to check on something in the mansion. Come on! I'll show you the way!" She dashed off laughingly towards the mansion, with Vincent hot on her heels even while burdened with the extra weight. 

"You two seem comfortable with each other." Yuffie commented as she and Vincent began making their way towards the mansion. 

"She was an affectionate person. Loved physical contact, in fact… she loved everything. Rain, bugs, birds, dust even. Everything…" 

When Yuffie walked into the Mansion she was expecting a dark dank unlivable place with monsters crawling all over. But… It was completely different. The entire mansion was well lit. No cobwebs or dust, the upholstery was still good. Vincent and Lucrecia had just entered. Vincent had dropped the bags in the small office by the doorway. Quietly from his own bag his removed a small pistol, which he placed in a holster at his ankle, and then he removed a larger revolver that he placed in the holster in the small of his back. Suddenly he heard a cry from the main room. In a quick movement he unholstered the revolver and dove head first into the reception hall. Lucrecia turned around to see what the noise was; tears were coming down her eyes. 

"Whats that for?" She asked, she sounded somewhat angry. 

Vincent tried to explain, "I thought I heard-" 

"Put it away!" She turned back into the other direction. Vincent slipped his revolver back into its holster and walked up behind her. Her nose would come about up to his shoulder. He looked over her shoulder to get a glimpse at what she was staring at. It was a dead tree. A potted tree next to the stairway. Vincent looked around and noticed several more just like it. Some small plants and other slightly larger stunted trees. "He said he would take care of them while I was gone…" 

Vincent reached over her shoulder and took a hold of one of the leaves. "It's not dead yet. It just badly needs some water." He gently placed his hands on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. "I'm sure it's the same will all the plants." 

"Thank god the atrium waters the plants automatically or we'd have to replace all those as well." 

'We' thought Vincent to himself. 'I like the way that sounds… But she is with Hojo…' "Come on, Show me the kitchen and we'll start watering these plants." 

About half an hour later Hojo, Gast and the three heavies showed up carrying various sized boxes into the living room. Lucrecia and Vincent had just finished watering all the plants on the second floor and came to greet them. 

"All the equipment checks out?" Vincent queried. 

"Some lenses were cracked." Gast replied. 

"That's just about it." Hojo breathed out heavily. "Umm… You two come with me. We'll start moving this into the lab. Vincent would you help our remaining friend move the rest of the packages into the house?" 

Vincent nodded and went back to the vehicle for the remaining supplies. The rest of the day was spent setting up the various instruments in the dungeon lab and touring the house.

* * *

Yuffie circled Vincent once. "What exactly did you duties here entail?" 

"Basically, I am supposed to monitor them and do my best to protect them from all forms of bodily harm. There was no existent threat at the time, so I filled in the time gaps between patrols by providing them with everything they needed. I cooked meals, watched over the house, took care of Lucrecia's plants, and gathered specimens, mail, food, basic maintenance. There was not much else." 

"Specimens?" 

"Small creatures from the surrounding mountain range, which they performed experiments on with mako, and Jenova cells. Since I was Shinra at the time I was privy to the gory details of what happened in the lab." 

"And Lucrecia?" 

Vincent turned his head for a moment. "Our friendship developed."

* * *

The scene for a moment became very bright and Yuffie had to shield her eyes. When the light returned to normal they were in the kitchen. Yuffie glanced around the room; Vincent was working over the stove. She saw the clock over the entryway, it was 7 AM. Yuffie wasn't a morning person. She began to yawn at the thought of it being so early in the morning. 

"Vincent?" A bleary eyed Lucrecia called out from the doorway. She was still dressed in a night gown and her hair was standing high enough to give Cloud a run for his money. "What are you doing up so early?" 

Vincent reached over to the counter and began pouring two cups of coffee. "Breakfast. I'm a morning person. Obviously you're anything but." 

"On the contrary, after cold shower I'm ready to take on the day. It's just that Gast is in my bathroom. I didn't want to use yours." She leaned closer and in a mock serious tone, "It's icky." 

"I'll have to work on that." Vincent handed her a cup of coffee. She took it and sat down at the table. "Where is Hojo this lovely morning?" 

"Hojo? Oh he doesn't get up till about nine or ten. He is a heavy sleeper. Every morning he sleeps through my alarm." She took a sip of her coffee. 

Vincent wasn't sure what it was, but the thought of Lucrecia and Hojo sharing a bed just didn't… appeal to him. 'She deserves better.' He thought to himself. He hadn't known Hojo for long, but he had a general idea what type of person he was. Work-obsessed. If it didn't concern Mako or Jenova it didn't deserve his time. Like the plants. Hojo was elitist; he only respected the great minds driving science forward. One of them just happened to be professor Gast. He didn't even respect Lucrecia much. She was his fiancée, but he still ordered her around as if she were a mere servant. But she never seemed to mind, she took it all in stride. Lucrecia had and endless amount of patience for this man. Nevertheless Hojo was a brilliant man, Vincent just hated the way he treated people around him. 

Vincent set a plate of pancakes in front of Lucrecia. She looked up at him helplessly waiting for syrup. He appeased her big blue eyes and poured the syrup then attempted to add some whipped cream. The spray can seemed to be stuck so he shook the can and banged it twice on the table before trying again. When he squeezed the nozzle a burst of whipped cream squirted out and sprayed all over Lucrecia. There was a thin layer cream on her face. When she wiped the whipped cream out from her eyes she saw Vincent still in front of her holding the whipped cream spray can. His mouth was forming a tight straight face, but she could tell from his expression that he was about to burst from the pent up laughter. "Rat Bastard" she said aloud, triggering some bellows of laughter from Vincent now unable to control himself. Quickly she looked around and saw on the table a squeeze bottle of ketchup. She grabbed at the ketchup, but Vincent had anticipated her move and backed up to the kitchen counter just out of her range, her ketchup attack just hit his shoes and the floor. Lucrecia began to step around the table and advance on Vincent. In an act of desperation Vincent grabbed an open bag of flour. 

"Put it down Lucrecia! I won't hesitate to use this!" Vincent said as he held the bag of flour menacingly. 

"Try me Turk!" She jumped forwards and squeezed the bottle with all her might. Vincent let the bag of flour fly. When the deed was done Vincent looked over himself. He would have to replace the shirt. Luckily his nice black jacket and pants were unstained and unharmed. Lucrecia on the other hand was white as a ghost. 

"Its ahh… nice look on you…" Vincent said with a smile. 

Lucrecia's eyes flashed open in narrow angry slits. "I'll nice look you…" she muttered. Then quickly dashed at Vincent who was taken completely by surprise. 

"Not the jacket! Not the jacket!" Vincent yelled. 

"Especially the jacket" she replied in a vengeful tone. She jumped up at him, and Vincent had little choice but to catch her. Acting quickly she wrapped her arms around his back and looped her legs around his. Then she began to wriggle and move her body in an attempt to rub all the flour onto Vincent. Both their breathing became slightly heavy. Lucrecia was using one arm to hang onto Vincent; with the other she was holding his head close to hers as she rubbed the side of face against him. As she changed sides for a brief moment their lips met, and for a second Vincent lost his balance and slipped completely in the puddle of ketchup he had been standing in. As he fell, Vincent managed to shift his position so Lucrecia landed on him, and so it happened in a mess of ketchup flour and whipped cream Lucreacia was laying on top of Vincent Valentine. There were only mere inches between their faces. They spent half a minute gazing into each other's eyes, then slowly Lucrecia's eyes began to close and her head tilt, slowly lowering towards him. Vincent followed suit and they met half way. For half a minute Lucrecia shared the most tender passionate kiss she had ever experienced up to that point in her life. 

When it was over she raised her head again, and stared down at Vincent. He was there for her staring back. She couldn't stand his gaze. 'For gods sake I'm going to be married soon. I can't let this happen.' She thought to herself. In a matter of moments she was gone, running up the stairs to the now open bathroom. Vincent remained on the ground as Gast entered the room through the second entrance. 

"Breakfast?" Vincent asked. 

"… Sure…" Gast replied. 

"How long were you there?" 

"Since the whipped cream." Gast calmly replied. 

"… Pancakes?" Vincent offered. 

Gast thought to himself for a moment before replying, "I think I'll just help myself to some cereal, thanks though."

* * *

"Its amazing isn't it?" Vincent said. 

"What the kiss? Ya! That looked pretty cool!" Yuffie responded. 

"No… After Sera died, I thought my life was over. I never thought I could love again. Carla and Carter used to call me Mr. Serious because they said 'I was incapable of having fun.' Then suddenly one day, there it was standing inches from my face. Love. I became carefree and happy. I had fallen for this girl I barely knew. But I wanted to know her. I wanted 'us' to be." The scene they were in flashed once and was gone, now there was another scene. Vincent handing Lucrecia a cup of coffee, she smiled at him, he smiled back. Another flash, another thoughtful look passed between them. Another flash, they were sitting together in one of the bedrooms talking, the words were muted out. Another flash they were talking again in the atrium as Lucrecia pruned the flowers. Another, they were sitting together in the local restaurant. Another, and Vincent had taken her to the mountains on one of his specimen runs. Another flash, Vincent wearing his black suit buying a dozen red roses from a local vendor. Another, now they seemed to be at a town festival. Vincent was standing by the well, a dozen roses against his back, approaching him from ahead was a beautiful woman in a tantalizing yellow dress that went down to he r ankles. As she reached out to embrace him he pulled the flowers out from behind him and presented them to her. She tenderly kissed him on the cheek. Another flash, the same festival, they were sitting on the well now facing the mansion. Above it fireworks were going off. From behind Yuffie could make out their silhouettes against the bright fire works as they leaned towards each other and embraced in a passionate kiss. Another flash, but no scene followed. 

"We didn't return to the mansion that night… We… We rented a room at the hotel. So long as she had that ring on her finger, we could never truly be together." 

Yuffie nodded, and tried to forward the conversation, "And Hojo?" 

"Ignorant bastard didn't even know. He knew that Lucrecia wasn't around as much as she used to be, but that's about it. He was always so excited over his work. Excited over Jenova and mako, and the 'countless possibilities.' No, he fell in love with his work, fell in love with Jenova. Completely forgot about her until the time he needed her, needed her to bring his new love's child into the world." Vincent's voice had changed into an angry sneer near the end, a seething hatred shone through him. I remember when Hojo had his brilliant idea… He asked me to help him make a romantic dinner for the two of them… He was completely oblivious to everything that had happened between me and Lucrecia." 

There was another flash, and suddenly they were back in the kitchen. Vincent was at the counter, and Hojo was standing next to him trying to explain something. 

"You have to help me!" Hojo cried out. 

"What do you need this time? More specimens from the mountains? There are cages full in the dungeon. I caught some fresh ones just incase, I have plans for later tonight." Vincent proceeded to cut the crust from his sandwich. 

"No, nothing as simple as that." Hojo looked down to floor. "I need you to help me cook dinner. I want to make something for a romantic evening between me and Lucrecia." Vincent seemed taken aback. 

"You two are still together? I barely see you two around each other lately." 

"Something I hope to rectify very soon." 

On one hand, Vincent was in love with Lucreica, on the other hand, he couldn't just turn his back on Hojo, and he might suspect something. "I'll help you. On one condition…" Vincent put down his sandwich. "Tell me why the sudden interest? After all this time, why now?" 

Hojo looked at him plainly. "II want to have a child with her." 

'If he's lying.' Vincent thought to himself. 'He's covering it very well. Maybe… he is being honest. But then what do I do?' "I'm somewhat busy at the moment, so why don't you take her to that nice restaurant in town? I'll have something ready by oh say 7:30? And I'll send it there." 

"Yes… get her out of the house… that's a good idea. We don't get out much anyways…" 

'She dose, you moron. You'd notice that if you ever looked in her direction. Its you whose the shut in.' Vincent screamed out in his head. 

"Thanks, I really appreciate this." With that Hojo exited. 

'Ohhh I'll cook him a dinner, I'll cook him a dinner they'll never forget. Heh heh heh…' Vincent thought to himself as he prepared the fondue pot. And it was, Vincent prepared a magnificent dinner for Hojo's date, and Hojo would be extremely grateful. 

Again the scene changed. Vincent was sitting across the square in the center of Nibelhiem on a bench. He was busy hiding/reading the newspaper. After every few seconds he would find some reason to lower the paper and stare across the square into the window of a restaurant, where Hojo and Lucrecia were indeed enjoying his wonderful fondue and soufflé. In reality Vincent wasn't reading the newspaper hidden on the inside of the newspaper were various memos and reports that had been delivered through a special courier. All these papers were what the Turks called 'shadow documents.' They were reports and summaries of every Turks activities. If an industrial spy in Junon came across plans for a new computer chip he or she would do their best to reproduce them in their report so that if any other Turk came across such technology, they would be prepared to deal with it as necessary. That's why Vincent always kept himself well informed about the experiments in the basement, if some other group was going over a similar project they wanted to keep a leg ahead. 

Right now he was reading through a security report from the Space and Transportation base in the plains to the North. Apparently there was some anti-Shinra protesting. While the protesting had been broken up, they believed that some of the rowdier members of the protest had fled south. It was a warning. As Vincent looked up he saw three people approach from the mountain side. From the looks of it, it seemed like they had been traveling for some days. Inwardly Vincent decided to keep an eye on them in days to come. As they passed through the center of town Vincent lowered his paper to keep an eye on them from the corner of his eye. 

One of the men stopped and grabbed the others by the shoulder then pointed to the restaurant. Vincent shifted position to get a better view at what he was pointing at. It was Hojo. 'Damn fool is still wearing his lab coat.' Vincent stood up for a moment, then sat down again. 'Maybe they're just going to the inn.' He thought to himself. 

But they weren't. The three men stepped inside the inn/restaurant and went straight to Hojo's table. Vincent got up and quickly walked over to the restaurant. Things were already getting out of hand. One of the men had tossed Hojo aside like a rag doll and another had pulled a pistol out on Lucrecia. Things had become very complicated. If he risked taking a shot at them, he could hit someone else inside the building. If he missed any of them, who knows? Maybe they all were carrying weapons. Vincent reached at his side. And quickly pulled something out from a smooth sheath that ran down his side. 

One minute Lucrecia was having a quiet conversation with Hojo at the restaurant. He was making a proposal to her. In her view it was absolutely ludicrous. He wanted to impregnate her and inject Jenova cells into the fetus. The remains of Jenova had been dated by them back nearly 900 years, and the cells were still alive. Hojo thought she was some lesser god, and that she was presently reconstructing herself. 'Her' Lucrecia thought to herself. 'How does he know it's a her?' In any case, he wanted to inject the Jenova cells into her fetus in an attempt to recreate a god. "Think of it." He said. "Our child could be the most powerful being… Ever…" 

"I'll think about it." She replied as she stole a look outside. Vincent was out there, sitting on the bench pretending to read the newspaper. She smiled to herself… he was jealous, and unrightfully so. Hojo sat at the table picking at his fondue. She returned his warm smile as he looked up at her. 'I wish he would have worn a different coat.' She told herself. 'But he was in such a hurry he forgot.' Or at least that's what he told her. The bell at the front rang as three men entered. A view from the front would have shown you that the door was to the left of the restaurant's doorway, the table Lucrecia and Hojo were at were on the right side. They were sitting next to each other facing the opposite wall, so they both had a clear view of the three men's entrance. Lucrecia was sitting next to the window, Hojo to her right. These three men gave her a funny feeling. 

They were standing in a row next to each other. The on the right, closest to the front was a smaller man, with a wide grin on his face and one hand stuffed in his pocket. The man on the left was medium build and height, like wise smiling but not as widely he hand his hands at his sides. The center man was enormous. A few inches taller than Vincent, he was covered in rippling muscles. Too many muscles for one man alone. He stepped forward and began to speak. "You wouldn't happen to work for Shinra, would you?" 

Lucrecia was suddenly scared. Hojo looked up for a moment, and answered, "Why yes we do. We happen to be their best researchers." He put his arm around Lucrecia's waist and smiled up at the much larger man. Obviously he hadn't noticed their menacing tone or approach, because he was showing no fear. 

"You are, are you?" The larger man quickly stepped forward and grabbed Hojo by his collar, and as if he were a rag doll tossed him off to the side. The other restaurant patrons began backing away and the waiter ran into the kitchen. "Then I guess it would set them back some if he killed their two best researchers. Jimbo what do you think.?" The man turned to his right. The smaller man began laughing some and pulled out a revolver from his pocket. He held both hands forward and aimed at Lucrecia. The larger burly man turned to face her once again. 

Suddenly the doorbell rang again as a third party entered the restaurant. Lucrecia deeply inhaled. 'Vincent.' 

His face was a mask of calm. He was holding something in his right hand, but keeping in stride switched it to his left. It looked like two thin long metal bars. He dropped one of them, except he didn't. In a quick elaborate hand movement he swung it back up again resting where it was a moment ago, except now there was a large seven inch blade attached to the end. It was a butterfly knife. Without losing a beat he walked up behind 'Jimbo.' With his right hand he quickly reached alongside Jimbo's gun hand and pulled his wrist up, ruining the shot he had at Lucrecia. Jimbo's back was touching Vincent's torso, with his left hand Vincent stabbed the long blade into Jimbo's chest via the small tender spot directly under his armpit. Jimbo was stunned for a moment, Vincent took advantage of this and quickly shook the pistol from his grip. Then with his left hand he pulled the knife out and reached further around Jimbo's torso using the knife to quickly slash his throat. Vincent let go of the body, and it fell forward, dead. The second medium sized man came out of his shock from his friend's death and threw a wide left hook at Vincent. He was able to easily duck under the punch and get in closer to the man. Switching knife hands he came up again almost as close as he was to the first man. With his left hand Vincent grabbed the man's face, and with the right he quickly slashed his throat. The second man's body fell off to the side. The entire process, from revealing the butterfly knife to the moment when the second man's body hit the floor had not taken more than five seconds. 

Vincent turned to regard the last of the three. He turned and looked at Hojo for a moment. Hojo looked at him, then to Lucrecia, then back to Vincent before he called out, "Vincent! He's trying to kill us!" 

The man growled at Hojo before he turned back to Vincent and began advancing. In half a second the man was almost right on top of Vincent as he threw a quick right hook. Vincent leaned back at a near impossible angle and in an extremely agile moment brought his right foot up and across the face of the man. The force of the kick knocked the man to the ground. To his left was the revolver of his first killed companion. With his right hand he reached over to grasp it. But Vincent was too fast for him. Vincent's extraordinary accuracy did him well in that moment, with his right hand he threw his knife into the man's right hand. It went straight through and was now stuck in the wooden floor. In a highly adept and well trained movement, Vincent reached behind his back and in a spinning movement brought out the quicksilver. After the familiar click of the hammer moving into place the man turned his head from his wounded hand to face Vincent. The pistol fired twice each bullet piercing through a different half of the man's brain. 

It was over. Vincent pulled his knife out of the man's hand and cleaned it off on his shirt before putting it back in its case at his side. Lucrecia just stared at him for a moment as he did then looked over the dead bodies. She began to cry and ran around Vincent for the door, Vincent tried to say something but his throat had just gone completely dry. Hojo ran past him after Lucrecia calling out her name. Vincent turned back to the bodies and did all that he could in that moment. Helped the owner clear the bodies as the waiter ran out to fetch the town leader.

* * *

Vincent was not in trouble. The town leader had said that all his action were committed in defense of his friends who were in mortal danger. He had however expressed that he disliked Vincent's use of violence and hoped that if the unlucky situation were to happen again, Vincent would make an attempt to take prisoners instead of going straight for the kill. Gast had come to pick Vincent up from the Town leader's house. 

As they walked back Vincent began their conversation, "How is she?" Vincent was staring at the ground. 

"Lucrecia? Ohh she's still a little scared. Shocked more likely, and a little betrayed." Gast said plainly. 

"Betrayed?" Vincent looked up at Gast. 

"Ya… You really pulled a fast one on all of us. We knew you were a Turk, but none of us thought you were that dangerous. The way you've been preparing meals, and helping around the house, we thought of you more as a babysitter than a bodyguard. Then this popped up." Gast let out a heavy sigh. "None of us thought you were capable of killing…" 

They continued walking for a moment in silence before Vincent asked, "What should I say to her?" 

Gast stopped and looked at him for a moment before replying, "I don't know…" 

They began to walk back to the mansion again. "The entire time that was happening, all I cold think of was a life without her. I couldn't stand it. Everything I did, I did because I love her. I was just so afraid that something might happen to her if I didn't act fast. I the one I loved once already, after her death I swore to myself that if I could I would never allow that to happen again." 

They stopped in front of the double doors to the mansion. Gast stepped ahead of Vincent before he could open the door. "You say you couldn't stand the thought of life without her, right?" With a deeply saddened expression and voice he continued, "You may have to get used to it." Then he stepped out of the way and opened the door for Vincent. Vincent stepped through and looked around. In the small loveseat in the hall Lucrecia sat facing Hojo, their hands were joined. When she saw him enter he stood up. There was a look of pain and fear on her face as she faced him. Then she turned around and ran up the stairs. Gast closed the door behind them. 

Hojo stood up and walked past Vincent to Gast. "I have some good news. Lucrecia has agreed to the project."

* * *

And so the darkness begins... Let me know what yall think. Its really interesting to get feedback.

Great... I'm gonna be gone for another three days. We're movign my sister to Dallas tomorrow. So we get to move all her furniture there in a uhaul and stay the night. I just wanna stay here. I'm too tired to go, and my sleep pattern is too messed up from the wedding.

Empress-Eerian-Sadow: Hopefully yall will like this one better. I liked this one for the more obviousl reasons. Keep readin!

Neko-Yuff16: I'm kinda back on a normal schedule, so i think i'll be able to go through the rest of this without any interuption in schedule.

Hotaru170: Thanks for hte compliment i appreciate it.

R&R

mattaraishu!


	17. Things Fall Apart

17) Things Fall Apart

* * *

Eight months, it had been nearly eight months since Lucrecia agreed to act as the host for project 'God's Hand.' She was in her final trimester and the baby was due any week now. Vincent lay in bed staring at the slowly moving ceiling fan. Even since that faithful day eight months ago he had never seen Lucrecia more than once or twice a day. Even then it was for as short a time span as she could manage. She was downstairs in the reception hall playing on the piano with Hojo. Vincent stayed in his room. He did not want to force her out of the room. Over the months he tried to talk to her, to apologize for what happened. Once he actually succeeded. 

She had had a craving for pickles and risked a visit to the kitchen while Vincent was preparing their meals. With the help of a turkey leg he convinced her to hear him out. When he finished explaining himself she just stared up at him, then looked away. In a broken tone she said, "Vincent… the child… this child could be…" She began to choke on the words. Vincent held his breath the entire time. Then she regained her composure and looked up at him. "This child could be the crowning achievement of my scientific career." With that she stood up and unsteadily walked out of the kitchen.

However Vincent would never give up on her. He could tell from the pained longing looks she gave him the few time they together that she still loved him. They were the same looks he gave her. If that were true though, why wouldn't she say anything? It had to go beyond what happened eight months ago. He had saved her life, surely she could forgive him for that. There had to be more to it.

Gast had been a fantastic friend during this episode. He tried to act as a mediator between the two of them. An attempt which proved to be utterly useless. But he had learned a number of things from Gast about her. It seems since the incident eight months ago, she went back to being Hojo's loyal servant, eager to please her fiancé. 'But,' he said, 'Shes also been extremely detached and… well… distant… I think she misses you…'

Vincent could only pray that he was right. He missed her. But that brought him back to the question at hand. Why was she distanceing herself from him? He just couldn't figure it out. It had to have happened around the time of their 'incident.' That's when she began to act differently. Vincent got up from the bed and took off his shirt and shoes. Then he performed a sort of half jump into the air and landed on his hands up against the wall. He then started to perform vertical pushups. 'What is it that is bothering her so much? Why is she resisting me tooth and nail?' Vincent began to think over the details of project 'God's Hand.' Host… Host has unborn child. Host is injected with weak Jenova based DNA serum to begin the process of changing the child, to make the transition within the unborn child itself more mild. Child, right after birth, is injected while within the mother's womb with stronger Jenova based DNA serum. The child will carry few similarities to it's birth parents but will be dominated by Jenova. At least that was the theory. He was against her participation in project 'God's Hand.' The first time he heard about it he had Hojo and Gast explain it in detail to him.

'What was she trying to say…' Vincent though to himself. "Vicent… the child… this child could be…" he breathed in and pushed himself up once more. 'ours….' He thought to himself. When he realized what that implied he lost his concentration and fell to the ground. 'this child could be ours.' He reviewed in his mind. 'Could it possibly be?'

There was a knock at the door. "Vincent?" Hojo's voice rang out. "You OK? We heard a crash."

"Just tripped, I'm fine!" he quickly replied.

"Alright. IF anyone needs me, I'll be in the lab." He called out before leaving.

Vincent quickly got to his feet and retrieved his shirt and shoes. 'He'd be in the lab.' Lately Lucrecia had been skipping lab work session because of the baby, mainly she would wander around the house or stay close to the mansion. Now was the perfect time for him to talk to her. After exiting he checked her room and the atrium before heading downstairs. Sure enough she was in the kitchen eating. Vincent just walked in and sat across from her at the table. He had no idea how to say this.

"Are you just going to sit there and watch me eat? I know you're a murderer, but I didn't think you were some weird perv as well." She said while giving him an angry glare.

"I… umm…." Vincent tried to begin. Gathering his calm and confidence he started again. "As the father of that child I demand you withdraw from project 'God's Hand."

* * *

The scene had stopped. Yuffie began hacking and coughing and fell to her knees. Vincent rushed to her side and gently hit her on the back. She stared up at him. "You were Sephiroth's father?!?!?" she gasped out, utterly shocked. 

"I could have been. _If_ I were the father, whatever resemblance between the two of us would have been erased within a week of the child's second Jenova injection. I am as much Sephiroth's parent as Hojo and Lucrecia were. None of us were there for the child. While I was locked away, Lucrecia had left, and Hojo just ignored him. There is no telling now who his birth father was, but I have no right to ever refer to myself as his parent." Vincent ended in a stern and slightly saddened voice. He and Yuffie turned back to the scene and it started again.

* * *

Lucrecia stared at him for a moment. Then put her hand on top of his. "I love you Vincent. I always have. Its just that, after you killed those three men I didn't know what to think of you. You were a completely different person." 

"Lucrecia… I love you, I always will. Nothing will ever change that…"

"I know… I know… I just let myself get talked away from you by Hojo…"

When Vincent heard this name he became suspicious. "Hojo? What did he have to say?"

Lucrecia was beginning to cry. "He said he always knew you were a murderer. That you were a monster. A ruthless killer. And I believed him…" Her gentle tears became loud sobs. "The last eight months have been the worst of life."

Vincent thought back to that fateful night they shared… nearly nine months ago. The turned to speak to her. "You're due… any day now…"

She quieted herself. "Any day now…"

Vincent stood up. "We'll leave… just the two of us… after the baby is born, we'll take him and run. I can provide for us. There will be no more Shinra, no more Turks, no research, no Jenova or mako. It will just be the two of us. We can run away together." Vincent was exasperated and stared into her eyes. He was desperate for her answer.

Lucrecia dried her tears and stood up. She had a calm proud look in her eyes. "I'm sorry Vincent, but I just can't do that. I've worked too long and hard on this. I won't give up my research for you." She began moving into the doorway. Before she left she said one last thing. "At the beginning and ending of the day, this child is mine. I'll do with him as I please. I'm going along with project 'God's Hand.'" With that she was gone.

Vincent just stared at the space she once occupied. 'She… She left me for her… research…' He thought to himself. Before that he at least had hope that she would return to him, but now even that was gone. Vincent fell down to his knees and tears started flowing from his eyes. With one hand he was supporting himself, with the other he was wiping the tears from his face. 'No…' he said to himself. 'She isn't a cold heartless woman… before this is over she will change her mind. I will just have to be ready for it.' Vincent stood up gathered his wits and began making arrangements for the child's birth. It would be much earlier than anyone expected.

Then he would leave the house and walked into town to ask the town mid-wife is she would stay in the mansion until the baby was born. Eagerly she would agree and take Vincent's room for a time. For three nights Vincent would have to sleep on a slightly less comfortable couch.

* * *

In the middle of the fourth day at around 2PM Lucrecia started screaming in her room. Hojo, Gast, the midwife and Vincent all rushed to her room. Lucrecia was on the ground. "My water broke, I think the baby is coming." She said, sweat had formed on her brow and both her hands were on her stomach. Gast and the mid-wife helped her onto the bed. Her moaning sounded painful. Sweat was starting to break out on Vincent's forehead, and his heart was thumping at speeds unknown to man. 

The mid-wife took control of the situation. "Mr. Hojo, please go to my room and get the large black bag next to the door. Mr. Valentine, I want you to go to my house and get my daughter. I would like her here for this, it will be a learning experience for when I'm gone. Don't let her forget her equipment. Gast, I want you here until my daughter arrives." Hojo left quickly, Gast nervously nodded and Vincent made like a bat out of hell.

He burst out of the door and ran into town in a huge panic. People turned to stare at him for a moment as he ran to the mid-wife's house. He burst through the door and started screaming. "Midwife! Daughter! Lucrecia! Baby! Now!" Vincent was panting trying to catch his breath. An old man got up from a arm chair in the center of the room.

"I'm sorry, my daughter is on a date at the restaurant." Vincent nodded and was about to leave. "Wait! Take that black bag with you. She'll need that." He pointed near the door. Vincent grabbed the bag and ran back outside to the restaurant. It was the same restaurant the attack had happened at eight and a half months earlier. When he rushed in he recognized her, she was sitting next to another local man. He stopped in front of their table. They both looked up at him. Vincent was out of breath and began shaking the bag at her and pointing towards the mansion with his other hand. They both looked at him as if he were crazy. Finally he took a moment to catch his breath and explained. "She's gone into labor, your mother wants you there."

Quickly she stood up and kissed the man on the forehead, then ran out the door towards the mansion. Vincent looked down at the bag and groaned for a second before sprinting to catch up. "Where are they?" she asked.

"Second floor right hand side." He replied. Then entered the mansion and ran back up the stairs to the room. Hojo was in the corner arms crossed a concerned look on his face. Gast was beside Lucrecia helping her through her breathing exercises, which he himself was having some trouble with. He was stark white and extremely appreciative when he was dismissed. The mid-wife thanked Vincent and asked that he and Hojo leave for now. All three men made their way down stairs and the hours dragged by.

* * *

It was now 7PM. No one save Hojo had moved from the reception hall where they waited. Gast and Vincent were pacing parallel to each other on opposite sides of the hall, both men were panicked to no end. Hojo sat on the love-seat with his feet up. He was eating grapes out of a bowl. 

"Would you two stop? You're giving me a headache." Hojo exclaimed.

Both men just looked at him. Gast just shook his head and continued to pace. Vincent was not as forgiving. "Look at you just sitting there, aren't you the least bit worried about your wife and child?!" Vincent gave him a hard stare.

"My child?" Hojo replied in a menacing questioning tone, while meeting Vincent's stare with and icy cold glare.

For a moment Vincent was scared for Lucrecia and her child. 'What does he know?' he asked himself.

"Listen we are all under a lot of pressure. So lets just cool down. OK?" Gast said out loud. He hadn't noticed the tone of Hojo's reply.

Vincent broke off from their conversation and went upstairs to his room. He paced around for a few minutes wondering what to do. Quickly he made his descision. He pulled out his duffel bag from the closet and started throwing sets of clothes inside. Only three. He did not think he would need more to make the journey. From the back of his closet he pulled out a long rectangular box. Removing the lid he ran his finger over the DeathPenalty. He pushed it into his bag along with some cases of bullets, he would definetly need this. He pulled out his pistols from his drawer where they were stored. The smaller one he placed on his ankle holster, and after loading the quicksilver holstered it on his back. He could hear yelling from outside his room. It was the mid-wife's daughter.

"Its finished, she is now the proud mother of 6 pound son!" she exclaimed. He heard some racing footsteps up the stairway. 'Probably Hojo and Gast.' He thought to himself. 'Its almost time.' He thought to himself. 'Damnit Lucrecia, hes your first-born son. You can't just give him up to science. I know that, you know that, and Hojo probably knows that.' He pushed his duffel bag back under his bed and opened the door.

Gast had just emerged from Lucrecia's room. "Vincent! She's asking for you! Lucrecia needs to talk to you."

Vincent walked forward and gently grabbed his friend by the arm. "Where is Hojo?"

"He took the child down to the lab. The mid-wife threw a fit, but Lucrecia is asking for you."

Vincent walked into the room. On the bed Lucrecia was under several comforters crying her eyes out. He knelt down beside her.

Between sobs she said, "Vincent! Please you have to stop him. Please, I just want my son back. This is all my fault, I should have listened to you from the start. This was a mistake. Please Vincent, bring my child back to me." She began to quiet down waiting for his response.

"I'll do my best." Was his only reply. He stood up and walked to the next room to the passageway leading to the labs.

Gast stood back in awe of what was happening. The two mid-wives were mildly confused. As Vincent walked down the circular stairway he could hear echos from the rooms above. "Gast would you please pack some clothes for me? I don't think we'll be here long after this."

"Of course." he replied. 'Good ol Gast.' Vincent thought to himself. 'Who could ask for a better friend…'

"You can't leave today!" One of the mid-wives exclaimed. "Its too soon."

"I'm sorry but I have to leave as soon as possible. Please help—" Her voice faded away. Vincent quickly walked down the passageway and threw open the door to the lab.

Hojo was in front of the desk filling two scringes, a larger one and a smaller one with a turquoise glowing liquid. "Its over Hojo. I won't allow 'God's Hand' to be." Vincent took a few steps forwards towards Hojo. "Do you hear me? Its cancelled. We're all against this, its madness and its not going to happen." Hojo placed the scryinges down on the desk and stepped forward to meet Vincent. There were standing toe to toe staring straight at each other.

Hojo just smiled at him. "Whatever you and Lucrecia feel is best. The baby is in the cradle next to the door. You can take him up to his mother. Hmph… You were probably right… It was madness. Trying to recreate a god." He seemed perfectly calm.

The newborn began to cry. He was in the crib next to the door, just as Hojo said. Vincent began to turn around, and took a step towards the crib. That's when he felt it. A quick hand snake up the back of his jacket and pull free the quicksilver. In an instant Vincent hand spun around, but it was too late. The last thing he saw before he collapsed from the four gun shots was Hojo's smiling face. But he could still hear a voice… Hojo's voice. "Vincent… I'll allow you to see her once more… Lucrecia… through me… I'm about to inject you with the Jenova cells… The experience is much more potent if its your first time…" Then he felt it, a prick in his arm and all his senses faded.

Almost immediately afterwards his sight returned. It was very bleary and took a moment to focus. He tried to move his head, move his arms, but he didn't have any control. Slowly his eyes focuses and he realized what he was staring at. His own body. In his hands, or in Hojo's hands was the larger scryinge he had filled when Vincent had entered the lab. Hojo threw it on the ground next to Vincent and then picked up the smaller one. The baby was still crying, his hearing was beginning to phase in as well. The baby let out a squeal when Hojo pricked him in the arm with the needle. He left the needle in the crib and picked up the child. Slowly he began walking back to the stairwell, and slowly he climbed it. At the top in his room, four people were waiting for him. The two mid-wives to comforting Lucrecia and Gast was piling some clothes in her bags. They all stopped and stared at Hojo when he entered the room.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to introduce you to God's Hand, Sephiroth." Hojo's voice carried a sadistic glee.

Lucrecia began to cry and Gast's mouth dropped open. "What happened to Vincent? Where is he?"

"Ohh Vincent? He left after I finished giving Sephy his shots. Seemed really sad. Why do you ask?"

"We sent him down to stop you. Lucrecia, decided to back out of the project."

Hojo gave Lucrecia a look of horror. "Oh my god, Lucrecia! I'm so sorry! But you said you were in the project heart and soul so I just went with it. I'm so sorry." Lucrecia covered her face with her hands and started sobbing once again. In a soft voice Hojo said, "Your son is now Jenova's" Everything faded into black.

* * *

Now they were back again in the basement. Hojo had just walked in and placed the baby back in his crib. Then he started dragging Vincent's body into the back of the room. 

Yuffie began to speak. "I don't get it Vincent. She said it herself, it was her fault that she didn't hear you out. Why are you punishing yourself?"

"Because it was _my_ fault. I could have stopped her. I waited until the bitter end before I lifted a finger. I could have taken her away before hand. Hidden her from him." Vincent replied.

"It wouldn't have worked. She had to make the descision on her own, under no duress. If you would have kidnapped her, she would have resisted to no end. Not because she believed in the project, but because all choice was being stripped from her. The descision was her choice, and she made it too late." Yuffie pleaded with him. "It disgusts me, as soon as she realized her mistake she throws you in to rectify it. After how horribly she treated you, she comes back and pleads for your help. She didn't even apologize!" Her voice was becoming weak herself.

Vincent turned to face her, and in a low stern almost angry voice replied, "She didn't have to… I loved her, and she loved me… I would have died for her, and I made sure she knew it."

Yuffie glared at him, her own anger beginning to surface, "That's all nice and peachy, but in the beginning of the day and the end of the day the child was hers. And she did with him as she pleased." Her use of Lucrecia's own words shook him to his core. "Maybe if she had made the descision earlier there would have been something you could have done, but as it stands you have nothing to blame yourself for." Vincent turned from her gaze and looked further into the lab where Hojo was now strapping Vincent's body down onto an operating table. Hanging on the wall behind him was an ancient prosthetic arm from the elbow down. It was made up of a bronze colored metal, but no normal human would ever be able to use it. However, that was what all the needles were for, after that fateful night Vincent would never be normal again. "Vinny! Vinny! Are you even listening to me?!" Vincent turned his gaze back to her. In a saddened voice she said, "She was a grown woman, independent and strong. She made her own descision. There was little to nothing you could have done to convince her to stop until it was too late…"

'Oh Gods.' He thought to himself. 'Was there nothing else I could have done? Did I fail her or her me?' With his right human hand he wiped the tears that were forming in his eyes.

Yuffie gently stepped forward and slipped her arms around his torso. "You did everything you could in anticipation of her descision, and so did Hojo. But until she made that descision there was nothing you could have done." He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and held her close. Gast had just walked in on Hojo.

* * *

Gast was shocked, "Dear god Hojo, what have you done?" 

Hojo gave Gas an annoyed look. "Get over here Gast. You've worked as a doctor, I need you to remove the bullets in his chest. Or our friend here will be dead."

Gast walked closer and examined the body. "This isn't right… He should be dead. Why isn't he dead?"

"Jenova is keeping him alive. It was her will that he live, live to regret, live to lament."

For about an hour afterwards Gast operated on Vincent. It was a slow process maneuvering around Vincent's vitals and retrieveing the bullets. But after an hour he had successfully removed all four bullets. "When will he regain consciousness?"

"A few hours." Hojo calmly said as he examined vincent's chest and began to stitch it back together. "That's when the real fun will begin…"

Gast was shocked. "You're a monster…" He began to back away.

Hojo was staring at Vincent's face, "No… But he will be soon enough." He turned to Gast. "Best to tell Lucrecia that he left. It will make it easier for her…"

"I need to talk to him, before you start whatever it is you're doing." Gast said. Hojo just nodded and Gast left.

"Poor trusting fool." Hojo said out loud. Then he turned back to Vincent. From a portable surgery tray Hojo pulled out a long glass beaker with a rubber stopper at the end. Gently he pulled the stopper out and wafted the fumes inside the beaker under Vincent's nose. Half a moment later Vincent's head shot up, his body and shoulder were still on cold surgery table. Vincent's eyes were wide open and his breathing was extremely heavy. His blue eyes were darting back and around the room before they finally fell on Hojo. Hojo leaned down on the table, his left elbow was on the table and his head was in his palm. "Sorry to wake you. I just wanted to remind you to thank Gast and Jenova the next time you see them. Jenova kept you alive after uhh… well you remember. And Gast pulled all the bullets out and repaired your insides." Hojo turned around and walked to the wall. "But more importantly, I need your help. You see you are in the most precarious and opportune position. I need someone to volunteer to put this on." Hojo returned to the operating table now carrying a long bronze arm, it was slightly more narrow than a regular arm. The fingers stretched out a little into talons.

Beads of sweat started to form on Vincent's brow. "Why can't I move?" Vincent asked.

"Muscle relaxants." Hojo quickly explained. "Now, listen up because this is important. This prosthetic arm has responded to only two things while I was testing it. Mako and life-stream." Hojo began paceing back and forth in the room weighing the arm in his hand. "I'm going to infuse you with both. However, since there is no ready source of life-stream I'm just going to use the next best thing. Materia. I'm going to devolve a material orb and inject its life-stream equivalent into your blood stream."

Vincent's head was bobbing up and down in attempts at movement. "Why are you doing this?"

Hojo put the arm down on the far table and walked up next to Vincent. He lowered his head so it was just above Vincent's. "Because you nearly ruined everything. You took my wife away. For a time I loved her, and you soiled that love. I can never look at her again without the image of you doing god knows what in a hotel-room. You ruined her for me. I knew that after she had you she would never volunteer for 'God's Hand'." He stood up again and started pacing. "So I decided to take matters into my own hand. I took her to lunch."

The truth was beginning to dawn on Vincent.

"I hired those three men to walk into town find me in the restaurant. If she didn't agree to participate in 'God's Hand' they were to shoot her."

Vincent scoffed. "Of course. Not even you are stupid enough to wear a lab-coat on a date."

Hojo smiled back. "That's how they knew which couple to assult."

Vincent frowned. "But if she were shot, how would that further project 'God's Hand'?"

"Simple. In a wave of adrenaline I would race to the lab and retrieve a needle of the Jenova DNA serum and give her a shot. It would keep her alive long enough for Gast to operate. Then it was simply a matter of impregnateing her." He laughed out loud for a moment. "After she screwed you, you wouldn't believe how eager she was to please."

Vincent made an angry throat noise and yelled out, "You rat-bastard!"

"Indeed." Hojo coolly replied. "After the baby was born, I just had to give him the shot, and what do ya know? As a result of Lucrecia's injection somehow it was passed on in a much stronger dose to the baby, and it would have ended there. But you had to interfere, and kill those men." Hojo rested his arms and head on Vincent's chest. Vincent had to pull his head up just to meet his stare. "It all worked out for the best. With my help she became disgusted at what a murderous monster you were, and willingly volunteered for 'God's Hand'." Hojo's eyes narrowed and his stare became icy. "She could have had her child. I could have kept my wife and retained 'God's Hand'. But you had to interfere. You truly are a monster." Hojo stood up again and picked up the bronze prosthetic, holding it by the elbow joint he pushed Vincent's head down onto the cold operating table. "This, my good friend, is only the beginning."

From the back of the room Hojo pulled out a coat rack. "This will just have to do." He explained. He hung on it a large plastic bag full of the same glowing blue liquid Lucrecia had shown him on the elevator some years earlier. Running through the bottom of the bag was a small plastic tube, the tube ended in a needle. "I already explained why we need the mako. With it running through your veins I believe the arm will work." Vincent let out a soft cry as Hojo pushed the needle into his right wrist and taped it on. "An amount this large usually results in a coma but I'm hoping Jenova will see you through."

"You still have a problem. I already have an arm, and you don't know how to attach that." Vincent pointed out. He was praying that some logic could dissuade this maniacal bastard from cutting his arm off.

Hojo gave him a sad look. "Sometimes, Vincent, I was jealous of you. You had Lucrecia's love, good friends, your health." He laughed for a moment. "But now look at you. You're a monster. Well you always were, I'm just bringing out what was already there." Hojo gave him a calm smile as he moved around to his left side. "One thing you still have though is a friend who cares enough about you to attach a prosthetic limb should the occasion arise." He turned his head to the side and looked at the door. "Jenova senses tingling. Gast is on his way here. Doesn't give me much time." From under the operating table Hojo brough up a hand axe. "Don't worry Vincent, the muscle relaxants won't stop the pain."

"No, stop, you're crazy think about this!" Vincent pleaded.

"You're right right Vincent, I am crazy." The axe came down with a thud, for a moment Vincent thought he heard something rip.

Something was beginning to pain. His left arm below the elbow had begun to tingle. Suddenly Vincent realized Hojo had just cut his arm off. His lower lip was quivering and he did his best to hold back all signs of pain, psychological and physical. He turned his head to the right away from Hojo.

"Now what to do with this." A mischevious grin got caught on the mad scientist's face. He jumped on top of the table and then dropped to his knees straddling Vincent over the chest. "Hey Vincent… What did the fingers say to the face? SLAP!" With that at a thunderous speed holding Vincent's left arm at the joint slapped Vincent across the face. Then the dismounted Vincent and threw the arm in the corner. Hojo walked back over the desk and from one of the drawers pulled out a fire materia. Quickly he cast a fire 2 spell on the appendage and placed the materia back in the drawer. "There, the deed is done. So you can stop beating yourself up over it." Hojo started laughing again over his lame joke.

Vincent was still in a state of shock. Just then Gast walked in. When the stepped through the doorway he recoiled in disgust. The smell of burning flesh perturbed him. Hojo saw him and activated the ceiling vents, clearing the room of the disgusting smell. Gast walked into the back area. When Gast saw Vincent he recoiled in fear. "Hojo! What the hell is wrong with you? What have you done?!"

"I don't know doc, but you have to help Vincent, hes coming to pieces." This time Hojo fell to the ground in laughter. He curled up in a ball started pounding on the ground.

Gast ran forward and grabbed a thick cloth from the table and applied pressure to the wound. That's when he noticed the prosthetic on the table, and the pile of burning flesh in the corner of the room. Gast started to go pale.

Hojo finally stopped laughing and stood up. "I'm sorry doctor. You have to realize though… I've dreamed of this moment since the moment I learned of my wife's infidelity. But I'll try to act more professional in the future." He turned around and began to leave, before he exited he stopped and began to speak again. "Be a pal to Vince. Attach the arm." Then he was gone.

* * *

Yuffie just looked up at him, tears were crawling out of her eyes and dragging down her face. 'There was more to this place that Lucrecia.' Up to now she had dealt with people, comforted him with reminders that they were all watching from the beyond, that they were all eccastic and happy for him, but what do you say to someone who had been attacked so violently physically and mentally? Her mind flashed over scenes: Hojo bent over Vincent. "You truly are a monster; Hojo shoving him in the head with the metal gauntlet; Hojo slapping Vincent with his own arm. A fresh set of tears came to her eyes. "There is nothing I could say to comfort you, but no one I don't care who, not even Sephiroth himself deserves to be treated that way." 

"Yuffie, I've found closure from this place in my mind a long time ago." Suddenly there was a flash and the two of them were standing on the control platform for the Sister Ray. Vincent was standing in the center of the platform, against the railing was a mutated Hojo, the creature was still wearing glasses, even after his transformation. Hojo was slumped on the ground, panting hard, one hand holding him up on the railing. The final shot was just an exclamation point on all that had happened between the two. Vincent released his finger from the trigger and creature before him stopped breathing. "Don't concern yourself with this pain, I dealt with it five days before we entered the Northern Caverns. Now all I have is this as a reminder." Vincent clenched his bronze fist. The scene seemed to melt away and they were back in the lab.

* * *

Gast was finishing up connecting Vincent's stump to the Bronze gauntlet. "The man is sick. He said he wouldn't do anything until after I spoke with you. He's crazy, that's the only explanation." Gast closed the final plate on his arm. "Vincent! Vincent!" 

Vincent was still dazed. Most of the pain was gone, but the memory was still fresh on his mind. It took a quick slap from Gast to tear him away from it. "Hmm? What?"

"Where did you hide your gun?" Gast asked plainly. "I'm going to kill him, then I'm going to get you and Lucrecia out of this place. Now tell me, where do you hide your gun."

Vincent looked at him for a moment. "Hojo probably has more Jenova running through his veins than Lucrecia, Sephiroth, and myself combined. It doesn't matter what the situation is, with the fire-power here alone you don't stand a chance against him."

"Vincent please!" Gast pleaded. Let me help you.

Vincent locked gazes with Gast and said, "Swear to me you'll follow my instructions down to the letter."

"Vincent, I-"

"SWEAR IT!"

"Fine, I swear. Your instructions down to the letter."

Vincent layed his head back down and began stareing at the ceiling. "Tomorrow, by noon, I want you to take Lucrecia and leave. You are never to come back to this place, or retell what happened here. Just get our, get her out, and stay as far away from that madman as possible." Vincent flicked his fingers on his new left arm. It was the first movement he made with them. "Eventually he will try to get to you, if only because you've seen me now as I am. So get away from here and stay away. Forget about me. My rifle is in my duffel bag under my bed. Give it to Lucrecia, there is also a revolver on the ground in the lab near the door. You can use that, there are more cartridges for it in my bag. But you can't fight Hojo, he's now more powerful than bullets." Vincent turned his head to look at his friend one last time. "Get the gun, and get out of here. Now."

Gast was speechless. He quietly moved from Vincent's side to the front of the lab. After a bit of searching Gast found the gun. After placing it in his pocket he left the lab never to return.

Vincent drifted off into a nightmare filled slumber. Several hours later he awoke again to prickling feeling in his right arm. Opening his eyes he twisted his head around to the side to see Hojo replacing the drip that was once in his wrist.

Hojo looked over to him sensing his movement. "You finished your mako supper. So, I started again with the life-stream equivalent." Again Hojo walked closer to his head to give a more detailed explanation. "You're a Turk, so you obviously know about the different types of material. Say if I were to devolve an Ultima material. With the help of Jenova, I believe you would gain the innate ability to perform the spell Ultima. Or if I chose an Chocobo lure, chocobos would be lured to you. You get the picture. I happened to have two very rare summon materias. Chaos, and Odin. Odin apparently was a knight who fought in defense of the human race. Chaos was a demon who was bent on the anihalation of manking. I thought you would be more comfortable with Chaos."

Vincent moaned once and tried to move his bronze arm. Hojo noticed his attempt and casually commented, "The muscle relaxants will affect your movement there as well." Hojo lowered himself to Vincent's level, in line with his head, and began speaking again, "Really you should thank me. Jenova just wanted to torture you to death. I, however, will allow you to live. I've given you an arm more powerful than your original. The Jenova cells inside you will keep you immune to all sickness and disease, the mako will strengthen you in all abilities you possess and the demon chaos will give you abilities you could never dream of. Imagine it, the powers of a full fledged demon. We just have three blood infusions left until I'm done with you." Hojo got to his feet and added three more bags of blood to the coat rack. "For the sake of posterity, I've left all my notes in a box I'll leave with you."

"What are you going to do with me when this is finished." Vincent asked.

Hojo shrugged. "I certainly don't want to deal with you. I'll leave you here for the next unlucky soul who stumbles into this place. That won't be in days or months, not even years. You're looking at decades or centuries even. I'll burn all your things and pick up some new clothes for you." Hojo removed the now empty drip of lifestream from the inside of his right elbow and replaced it with a plastic bag of red blood. In his right wrist Hojo inserted a needle leading to a bag of purple blood, and into his upper arm a bag leading into a bag of yellow blood.

Vincent felt a growing heat and pain in his body. Voices were emerging. Was he going crazy? He started shaking his head trying to ignore the voices. He shut his eyes and the voices only became louder. He felt a sharp pain on his cheek. Again there it was. In the distance he heard a voice. "Vincent… Vincent…."

He opened his eyes directly above his face was Hojo. Hojo slapped him across the face once more. "Vincent. Concentrate on my voice… As the last person from this lifetime you'll see, I just wanted to say one thing." Their eyes met. Both men's faces carried an indifferent calm. "I win… You lose…" There was a prick in his arm, and Vincent fell unconscious again.

* * *

Vincent knew he was dreaming. This place was black, he had fallen. As he stood up and looked around he noticed the four beasts that stood before him. Somehow he knew their names. The first in the center was a large purple beast with horns, The Galian Beast. Behind it to its left was a Frankenstein like creature, monstorous towering over even him, The Death Gigas. To its right was a mask wearing chainsaw bearing maniac, The Hellmasker. Behind them all was a fourth figure half covered in shadow, Vincent could only make out his silohette. Chaos. Vincent turned and began to walk away from them. But the first three caught up to him, ran ahead of him beside him hissing the names of his dead loved ones in his ear, reminding him of all his faults, and even creating a few to see if he could tell the difference. In time it wouldn't matter to them, it was all the same. They had found a new host who could feed any and all their needs until the end of time. Or until he finally passed over. Except for Chaos, who waited in the back of Vincent's mind, semi dormant. Only the Chaos manual had the power to fully awaken Chaos. The manual that Lucrecia stole from Hojo, before he had the opportunity to burn it.

* * *

**Wake up….**

Vincent awoke. There was total darkness. He felt around with his limbs. He was in some sort of box, except it wasn't exactly shaped like a box. He started pushing on the sides and the top came loose. The small room was ill lit with a single light-bulb at the corner of the room.

Vincent covered Yuffie's eyes. "Hey! Vinnie what are you doing?"

"I'm naked."

"Oh."

Vincent climbed out of the box and examined his surroundings. There were two other caskets on either side of his own. On the walls there were stacked bodies, the flesh eaten off them by time. On the table at the back there were a few item. First there was a pistol. The PK he had been wearing on his ankle. Then there were clothes. Odd clothes. He began to put them on.

Vincent uncovered Yuffie's eyes. "Woo Hoo!" she exclaimed. But Vincent's pants were already on and he had just finished tucking his shirt in. "Dag nabit…"

When he threw the cloak on he noticed that under it was note scribbled on a sheet of notebook paper. The message read:

Vincent,  
There is a key hidden within  
This house to open this room.  
However you only need the  
Key enter. You are free to exit  
At any time you please. Should  
You choose to.  
-Hojo  
  
Vincent placed the pistol on the holster on his hip and turned to the door. Then they came again, the voices, those three demons reminding him of all his sins. Throwing the names of the dead in his way. They told him it was all his fault. That he deserved much worse than they could give him. Vincent's soul was flushed with sadness. He was ignoreing every word they threw at him. All he could think about was his most recent failure. He thought about how he failed Lucrecia and Sephiroth as he climbed back into his coffin, and for thirty years the demons feasted on his guilt.

"And there I remained." Vincent said turning back to Yuffie.

"Until an overactive ninja burst in, with six other members of a terrorist organization following behind her warning her to be careful."

"You were the first person I saw in thirty years."

"What did you think?"

"You looked so lively, so young and innocent. I wanted you to get as far away from me as possible."

Yuffie turned to the side and laughed. "Usually men have to get to know me before they go that far." Yuffie turned her quickly and stole a glance at his handsome face. "What do you think now?"

"I'm glad it was you who found me." He held his hand out to her.

"So am I." He took his human hand in his left and they locked gazes. 'Is he smiling?' she thought to herself. And indeed he was.

* * *

So, so much discomfort, Nauseau, headaches. Being sick sucks. But that won't keep me from updating. Primarily because I finished this chapter nearly a week ago and all i have to do is participate in a series of clicks to get me there. But thats beside the point. Infact if i had a point, i assure you i'd get to it. But in lack of one i'll just skip to the replies. Forgive me if they're a little short. Its 12:41AM and i need sleep, and this headache does nothing to help.

Paine Kisaragi: Thanks for the enthusiasm, I hope you like this chapter as much as you did the previous!

Hotaru170: Lucrecia was stupid, or atleast thats how I liked to look at it. Her as some pig headed fool who willingly placed herself in the role of damsel in distress.

Shadow Reaver: If you're talking about the breakfest scene, then ya, I kinda liked that one too. If you're talking about the restaraunt, then I really enjoyed writing that. I had to get up and act out the movement to finish finding the words for it.  
Eva: Thanks for the compliment, I just wish my English prof felt the same way.  
Pixie: Cold as a cadaver my friend, cold as a cadaver.  
Felichel: Sure would be. I wonder how all the people in the town would have reacted to this guy who nonchalantly kills three heavies in a restaraunt.

Anyways, I'm out. I have to take care of my allergy problem before i can make an attempt to go to sleep. Funny I never realized i had allergies until i started a sport, and realized i couldn't breathe during the first practice. meh.

Matta raishu!


	18. ESCAPE!

* * *

18) ESCAPE!!! (could it almost be over????)

* * *

Yuffie felt like she had spent an eternity swimming in Vincent's deep eyes. The blood red circles once scared her, but now she could think of no more comforting thing in the world. She was as lost in him as he was in her. Her stormy gray eyes were a sign of hope for him, something to live for. But when they escaped from the life-stream that something would have to remain buried. For a time... 

Their hands were still joined. From the background Yuffie heard a subtle cough. Averting her eyes from Vincent she realized that she was standing again in the Shinra office. She and Vincent were standing a few yards ahead of the President's desk holding hands. What shocked her a bit more was that they weren't alone. There were four figures sitting on the desk just staring at her. On the far left there was the happy-go-lucky child form of Vincent. His face had a glowing smile, his cheeks were beet red, and he couldn't stop shifting position, as he dangled his feet over the edge of the desk. He started giggling as she looked over him. Next to him was the violent youth. Vincent during his days serving in the Midgarian gangs, the teenager gave her a full smile, his arms were folded, and they both started to laugh when their eyes met. To his right was the cool well trained professional. It was more or less his decisions in life that led Vincent to where he was today. He sat at the edge of the table with his hands in his pockets, wearing a sad half smile. When Yuffie's eyes traveled over him he picked himself up and straightened his jacket beaming a much wider smile at her, but it still carried a sad quality. And finally at the end was Chaos. His figure was also sitting up on the desk, he held his chin in his hand as if in concentration. He moved barely a muscle as their eyes locked. Yuffie wasn't able to confirm it because his hand was still blocking part of his face, but from the shift in his cheek she knew he was returning her smile.

Then finally there was him, the man she had come to this place with. The once shattered man who had rebuilt himself in the eyes of all his companions, and those present. Yuffie felt a special unspoken bond to this man. Throughout their entire adventure together searching for Sephiroth she had managed to learn two things about this man, didly and squat. Now she found herself in a position where she could easily write a full-fledged novel on his life. It was astounding how much had changed in such a short time. But she wanted to get to know him further, she knew his history, but she did not truly know him. Vincent on the other hand already knew quite a bit about Yuffie, through out their ordeal in Wutai, and all the nervous chatter while they descended into the depths of the Northern crater, he learned quite a bit about her.

'They had time.' she decided. Sephiroth was defeated, the killer anaconda that was the Shinra corporation had lost its head. Or rather found a new head in the form of the much more benevolent Reeve. The immediate threats to the planet were neutralized, now the people were given a chance to rebuild everything they lost. For Yuffie this meant a chance to rebuild Wutai. To Vincent a chance build a new life, if he chose to do so. Vincent released Yuffie's hand and turned to his shadows sitting on the table before him. The small boy jumped off the table and ran to him, or rather ran into him. He disappeared into Vincent. Next was the unrly youth. With a over elaborate walk he strode into Vincent, like a transluscent ghost he turned in to face the same direction as Vincent and just seemed to melt into him. Thirdly there was the clean cut professional. Stretching his arms as he walked he gave out a low yawn, then same way as the two before him disappeared into Vincent. Vincent then turned to Chaos. Chaos was slightly surprised when Vincent gave him a quiet nod. Chaos laughed to himself once as he got off the table and walked towards Vincent. As he entered Vincent he turned to Yuffie and gave her a quick smile.

Yuffie started, "Where were we?"

"We were just leaving." Vincent looked around the room one last time. The lights began to flicker, and the light thrown in from the outside the windows began to fade. As the lights gently faded, Yuffie rushed up to Vincent and wrapped her arms around him. He held one arm around her back, and with the other he held the back of her head. And again the two of them slipped quietly into the darknes.

* * *

**Wake up Vincent**... 

Vincent's eyes fluttered for a moment.

**I'll always love you... and always be happy for you.**

He recognized the voice. 'Thank you Lucrecia.' He thought to himself, as if she could hear him. If he could hear her in this place it could only mean one thing, she was dead. Vincent felt odd. All around him was darkness, where there wasn't darkness there was a warm turquoise color. After a few moments he realized he was carrying something in his arms, pulling it closer to him. Looking down he saw the unconscious Yuffie, they were in the same position as when they left his consciousness, the same position as when he caught her when she dived into the life-stream to get him. Her short chocolate brown hair was falling over her eyes, swaying gently in the life-stream pool. Vincent looked up and saw a bright light. Daylight. Gently he began treading his feet, propelling him and Yuffie up to the surface. 'They were almost there.' Vincent had to squint his eyes, the mid day sun was getting to him. Finally they were there. They were in the present, their present. No more reminiscing about the past, there chance to live was here. Hope had come in the form of choice for Vincent Valentine. The choice to live which he had deprived himself of thirty years prior. As Vincent and Yuffie's head's broke through the surface Yuffie came alive with gags and coughs. Vincent likewise was thrown into a hacking fit as he slowly moved them towards the shore.

When he finally got them to the tropical shore, he tipped Yuffie on her side and keeled over himself. Had they been breathing in the life-stream all this time? If they were, wouldn't the excess fluids in the lungs have killed them? A dark voice in Vincent's head made a point of saying: 'Don't question it Vincent. It was the will of the planet that you live. Go with it.'. Vincent leaned forward and looked over Yuffie. Her breathing had returned to normal, and her eyes had begun to twitch. Slowly she opened them and looked out. Vincent was kneeling over her, his breathing was heavy, and from the way his clothes sagged it looked like he had just climbed out of the ocean. Yuffie began to sit up when the noticed that she was covered in a similar semi transluscent liquid. "Ewww! Grossness!"

Vincent started laughing and tried to stand up. When he finally straightened his legs he looked around and every thing started spinning and bluring. He fell flat on his back a few moments later. Yuffie could'nt stop laughing. "Too much too soon." Vincent commented.

"I think I've found them!" an all too farmiliar voice called out. From the forested area behind them the creature Red XIII, Nanaki to those who knew him, emerged.

Behind him a second figure rushed out of the thick undergrowth. Where a gun arm should have been, there was now what looked be a large can opener that he was using to slash the thick undergrowth. "Bout damn time you two showed up. We've been waiting here for 3 days. Yall have scared every one shitless."

"Glad to see you too marshmellow!" Yuffie replied as the large red beast walked forward and nuzzled Yuffie along the side of her face, Yuffie returned the gesture by hugging him around the scruff of his neck, and giggling.

Barret helped Vincent to his feet, and Vincent grabbed a hold of him when he was about to fall again. "I apologize for us taking so long, but we weren't sure how to speed the process up."

Barret grumbled at the polite gesture. 'Classic Vincent, Gentleman to the end.' "Just a joke. You two ok?"

"Just peachy..." Yuffie made an attempt to sit up, but fell on her back when her head started spinning. Red approached her from her head side and just looked down at her. "Hey Red, did you know that a long time ago our summon materias were actually people?"

The massive dog beast scrunched his face and furrowed his eyes. "It was rumored that there were once lesser gods and super powered beings that roamed the planet and that the summons were just their shadows, but I've never put much stock into that theory."

"Uh huh, anyways, they were real people. I'm right, you're wrong. I'm smarter than you." Yuffie laughed out as she made another attempt to sit up, and with Red's assistance would have been successful. At the last moment Red withdrew his support and Yuffie fell back again.

"If you're so smart figure out how to get up on your own!" Red sneered.

"Awwwww, Red!" Yuffie groaned.

"Where are the others?" Vincent asked?

"They dropped me and Red down here. We... We're near Mideal, just so ya now." Vincent nodded. "Tif and Cloud, are looking around the Midgar area. After Meteor was stopped a lot of life-stream pools have popped up around there. Cid and Cait are still wandering around the Northern Cavern for ya. Cid is using the doll on remote control to dig around the rubble. Cait is the only one allowed down there since the area is still somewhat unstable."

"That's kinda cruel." Yuffie commented as she made another failed attempt to stand.

"I know, but Reeve assured us that he has 13 more of those dolls in storage in Midgar." Barret replied.

"What happened to Midgar? Wasn't the Meteor supposed to crash there?" Vincent asked.

"I Suppose you two wouldn't know." Barret remarked as he let out a bellow of laughter. "Midgar is safe and sound. 3.2 million people were evacuated two days before the disaster. There were about 6400 who stayed throughout the experience. They've already begun the reconstruction. Two plates completely collapsed. Three others were severly damaged, and the remaining few left are still standing, they just have a couple of gaping holes in them that's all." Barret walked forward to Yuffie, and before she could protest picked the small girl up in his arms. Vincent did his best to keep up as they walked. Red followed behind them, incase they should run into a back attack. "The entire city has come together for the express purpose of clearing the rubble and rebuilding the structures that were on the lowermost level. They won't be reconstructing the fallen plates, but will reinforce the ones that are still standing." Barret stopped ahead of Vincent for a moment. "It's a start..." he commented before he started walking again. We'll contact the others once we get to the inn, let them know yall are ok." Barret continued to talk as they neared the village. Vincent had stoped listening a while ago, now he was concentrating souly on getting into town without passing out. A slight dizziness had returned, and a quick wave of euphoria made him giggle for a moment, and he was struggling to concentrate. Random words were coming in and out. "Glad we found you now.... Would have missed on helluva party.... Nearly.... Pay....." Vincent's body hit the bed before they had even finished paying. He had lost contact with most of his senses but had somehow guided himself to the bed. 'soft... soft... bed...'

Barret walked into the room following Vincent after he paid the clerk. Yuffie had fallen asleep in his arms. Red trailed behind them. Barret stopped after he entered the room, Red walked along next to him. It dawned on them what the Clerk meant when she said, 'they have rooms, but were ill equipped to serve their numbers.' There was one queen size bed on the side of the room. Vincent lay on the bed, from his position it looked like he had fallen asleep at contact, he was about to fall off. Barret walked around to the other side and pulled the covers down before setting Yuffie down on the bed. Then he moved around to the other side and repositioned Vincent on the bed. Vincent was above the covers and Yuffie below. Barret stood back and glared at his handy work. It was a pretty small bed, and Yuffie and gotten a hold of Vincent's human arm. She was holding it tightly close to her chest, the same way Marlene did her teddy bear. Vincent didn't seem to mind, he was fast asleep.

Barret and Red just looked at each other for a moment, then in unison said "Camera." Barret began heading for the door, and Red called out, "You find a camera, I'll contact the others. Hurry up we may not get another chance at this."

"Why do ya say that?"

"You ever seen Vincent asleep before?" Red asked. Barret just turned to leave, save when they first met the dark gunslinger they had never known him to sleep eat or be merry. This was a first.

Barret just turned back to him and said, "Fool! How're you going to contact the others? You ain't got no damn hands."

"I managed to pass myself off as a human sailor a month ago, this is a cake walk compared to that." Barret just stared at the dog for a moment before he left for the market in search of a camera. Red just chuckled to himself as he dug through their bag. After finding the PHS, he carried it in his mouth out to the receptionist and dropped it on her desk. He had her dial the numbers while he did the talking. He felt it was too hot a day to go galavanting through the open air market.

* * *

Light... It was really bright... and his eyes weren't even open yet. Vincent tried to move his right arm but it was attached to something tight and solid. He moved his claw over his face and felt slightly relieved as the cold metal made contact with his skin. The dark gunman let out a deep breath. From around him he heard some repeated 'sh'ing but paid it no mind, he was too tired to care. Slowly as he began to drift into sleep again the voices rose in volume. Gently he shifted in position, the action was followed by another round of 'shh's'. Vincent was starting to get annoyed. Slowly he opened his eyes. There was a series of awes and muffled comments. All the members of Avalanche save Yuffie were standing around his bed. The centermost was Tifa, her eyes were shining with unshed tears and she was desperately biting her lower lip in an attempt to quiet her sobs of happiness, her hands to gripping the foot board of the bed in a death grip. From the splintering sound, it seemed the foot board was loosing. Next to Tifa to the right was their fearless leader, Cloud. He had a stupid smile plastered on his face and gave Vincent a nod of recognition. To Tifa's left was the Cid the captain of the sky who cursed more than a sailor of the sea. His jacket was off and Vincent saw three large nicotine patches on his left arm. As if anticipating his observation the grinning pilot whispered to Vincent, "Shera insisted." It was followed up by several hushing noises from Tifa and the others. Cait Sith was standing next to him, dancing circles on the top of his huge mechanical mog. On the other side were Barret and Red, who had found him and Yuffie about ten hours earlier. Vincent began to move, immediately there was a flurry of movements and muffled warning sounds. Looking to his right Vincent saw the reason. Yuffie was latched on tighter than his own skin to his arm. Vincent scoffed quietly once then leaned back and closed his eyes. 

Cloud dragged Tifa out of the room, and the others followed suit. They had already woken Vincent, they didn't want their chatter to wake Yuffie as well. The door clicked shut behind them.

"Finally they left..." Yuffie whispered.

Vincent was mildly surprised, but all signs of it were hidden behind a steely gaze. "You were awake?" he inquired.

The small ninja smiled. Her eyes were still shut tight and she barely moved her mouth as she spoke. "Go to sleep, I'm tired."

"Yuffie... Can I get my arm back?" Vincent asked.

"It's mine for now, just go to sleep." Vincent lay back and rested his head on his pillow. The light was shining on the wall, sunlight from outside. It wasn't just bright. It seemed to carry a life of its own, and affected everything it struck. Before when he looked around he defined everything as shades of gray. A blueish gray, a redish gray, a more white than black gray. But now everything had its own tone, its own voice if you would. He wanted to run outside and fall asleep under the sun, but for now the bed would have to do. It would do.

Vincent closed his eyes and began to dream. Half a day ago he saw his life for what it was. The fog of sadness and laments that had once obscured his view were gone, and throught he act of seeing he was reborn.

Vincent dreamt that afternoon, he saw Lucrecia, Sera, his parents, everyone he had ever lost. They were dead, they were all dead... but it was ok... Their memories were no longer a source of pain, but that of strength.

* * *

I feel kinda bad cause this chapter is only like 3000 words. The next chapters are only like 2000 words apiece, maybe i should combine them... hm... 

I know what you all... yall... (strange i'm texan when i talk, but not when i write) are thinking... 'End it already you stupid SOB!!!' But unfortunately i have two chapters left. I probably could have ended it here. Changed up the wording so they're more affectionate to each other and add a hopeful paragraph to the end describing the 'vast sea that is their love.' But it just feels... feels incomplete. If I still have internet in one week (Which i probably won't... [I'm moving back on campus]) I'll update. We're almost there so bear with me!

Ezri-Candy: What exactly is fluff? I've heard the term, but i'm not exactly sure what it is.

Empress-Eerian-Sadow: I'm sorta glad to hear i hit a nerve. Its really cool that this story can evoke these types of emotions from people.

Hotaru170: Thanks for the concern! I'm feeling alot better. I also appreciate the continual support!

Shadow Reaver: Thanks for the compliment! Glad to hear you liked the chapter.  
Eva: Wow, at this point i can't even remember my english professor's name... But besides the whole i hate your writing bit, he was pretty cool.  
Pixie: I'm thinking about making a story about Jenova, bu i wanna finish my story about Sephiroth first. I just have no time.  
Felichel: lol, he feels better later. so don't worry bout it.

PaineKisaragi: I'm glad to hear you really liked this chapter, I hope you enjoy future chapters as much as this one.

Forebearer of Carnage: I'll have to work on the story summary. Glad to hear you really liked the story though.


	19. A Voice Less

I'd like to apologize, i'm three days late. The thing is, is that on the 20th i started the lil rant and replies at the bottom of the page, but half-way through my friends called me (it was 12:30 in the morning.), and we all went to IHOP for a farewell dinner/breakfest. My friends are anything but normal. we had some pancakes that was in all reality swimmin in the Strawberry syrup they have at the table. It was actually an improvement compared to the Boisenberry we tried last week. The objective was to smother and eat everything, and to see who broke first. Luckily that wasn't me. So we all made it through the pancakes, and someone almost lost it at the eggs. And we were about to call it a tie, when my friend noticed the water. Now, mixing strawberry syrup with water is never a good thing, each of us knew that so we did the next stupidest thing. We used the lemon in hte water. Covered the lemon slice in Syrups sucked on it, then in rapid succession Poured salt all over it and sucked again. Ya... I can feel my teeth becomeing more and more brittle. Needless to say none of us were feeling well, so we decided to call it a night. It was 2:15 by that time, and i had to get up at 7 to start packing the truck for the big move to Tulane. so i decided to call it a night.

I'm not sure why i narrarated all that when i mere sorry would have sufficed. I just felt like explaining myself. So the moral of this story is: Don't be stupid, keep the lemons in the water.

* * *

19) A Voice Less

* * *

Avalanche was now reunited. The team members they had lost in at the crater were found, the world was safe, their enemies dead, and with two weeks to spare until the city wide celebration that would envelop all of Midgar. In a matter of five days all the rubble was cleared out of the city. The entire world had come together for to see it done. In a week and a half the rebuilding was expected to be finished to its three quarters mark. Four days after that would be the party of the century.

After Yuffie had awoken the AVALANCHE crew decided it was time for a change of venue. Cloud and Tifa decided it was time to take their relationship to the next level, and make a joint capital investment. The two of them bought the empty house in Costa del Sol and would rent it out as a time-share, occasionaly using the beautiful villa for their own needs while the area was in the best of season. But for now it was Avalanche's home away from home.

It was on the second evening of their stay, that the entire group found themselves together for the first time with absolutely nothing to do.

Barret, Cid and Cloud had gotten back from barhopping early. Yuffie was nursing nasty sunburn to her arms, and Red, Cait and Vincent were just hanging around the house. Tifa had just gotten back from the market getting some Aloe Vera for Yuffie's burns. They were all sitting in the large living room staring at one another. There was nothing to do. No pep talks, no strategies, no convoluted explanations explaining their next destination, no tear jerking speeches about why they had made the journey and undertaken the responsibility for the planet's safety. Just silence.

It was too much for Yuffie to bear. "So Cloud, what exactly does the hero do once he kills the dragon and saves the princess?" Yuffie grinned.

Cloud scoffed. "Why you asking me?"

She shrugged and replied, "You just seem like the one to ask."

"Well, he rides off into the sunset. Takes the princess back to his castle, marries her, they have three dozen kids," he said quickly stealing a glance at Tifa who was covering her mouth. "Everybody is happy. Why exactly are you asking this?"

Yuffie bit her lip, and evaded. "So when will we head set off for Midgar?"

Cloud laughed once before replying. "We leave in nine days, we'll be staying in a nice upscale hotel on the plate. In 13 days we're the guests of honor for the festivities. Now how did this come up? You have something important to tell us?"

Yuffie looked up at Vincent. He just nodded to her and stood up for a moment. "Actually, since we still have some time before the festivities, I was wondering if you could drop me off the site of the Temple of the Ancients."

Cid stretched his back. "When do you want to head out? It should take about three hours to get there."

"At most I'll need about three days. I'll pick up some supplies tomorrow morning. Can we leave by the afternoon?"

"Course." Cid replied.

"You know what we'll be facing when we go there?" Tifa asked.

"_We?_" Vincent replied, taken slightly off guard.

"Of Course **WE**" Yuffie rebuked. "We're your friends right?"

Vincent glanced at Yuffie and replied "Without a doubt, but-"

"So we'll all be going with you." Yuffie cut in. "Whats important to you is just as important to the rest of us." She said sporting a wide grin.

Tifa grinned at Cloud and nodded in the general direction of Vincent and Yuffie. Cloud blinked once then started laughing for a moment before Tifa punched him in the arm. Looking around Cloud stood up before the others. "Do I hear any objections to moving this party to the Temple of the Ancients for a few days?" No one made a sound. "Then it's settled. Tomorrow afternoon at one PM we'll leave. Pack light, we won't be there long."

Barret stood up and started towards the makeshift bedroom. "Hah, pack light he says. We've been traveling light for close to three months now. I haven't even bothered un packing yet."

"Where you heading marshmallow?" Yuffie teased.

"Gettin some sleep before we leave tomorrow." He turned back to Yuffie. "And who you callin marshmallow Brat!?"

"I just call em as I sees em." She called back before he left the room.

Cid stood up and started walking after Barret. "The marshmallow is right. We should all probably turn in and get rested before we leave tomorrow."

"Later old man!" Yuffie yelled after him. Cid didn't turn back or make any response, but waved his middle finger in the air as he exited the room.

Tifa stood up and yawned. "Those two are probably right, we may have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. I advise the rest of you to get some sleep as well. Night, Yuff, Vincent, Red." She grabbed cloud by the hand and led him out of the room. Red quickly excused himself and left.

Vincent turned to the side and looked at Cait Sith, the large mechanical doll was already on recharge mode. That just left him and Yuffie. "Why did you insist on everyone coming?" he asked.

Yuffie stood up and walked towards the mini fridge in the corner of the room. "Gee whiz, no thank you or anything." She quietly pulled out a couple of candy bars and deposited a 5 gil bill in the change box.

"Yuffie..."

"Damnit Vincent! We're you're friends, and we are concerned about you. Its not just me, its everyone here." Yuffie walked up to him and plopped down next to him on the couch. "If you don't want us there when it happens we'll wait outside, but please, stop pushing us away." Yuffie gently opened the candy bar and began to nibble at it. Vincent was just staring at her. She looked at him one last time then wrapped up the candy bar and threw it in the trash. "I've lost my appetite." She got up to leave.

Vicent quickly stood up and grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her towards him. "Yuffie." She was there directly ahead of him looking down towards the right trying to avoid his gaze. "I want you there with me tomorrow when I go to the circle of purification." Gently he raised her chin to look at her face. He was surprised to see tears streaming down her cheeks. "Whats wrong?" he asked.

"Nothings wrong." She answered truthfully. "I'm just glad to hear it." Gently Vincent started rubbing the young girls upper arms then kissed her once on the forehead.

"Go to bed Yuffie." One thought crossed his mind as he watched her leave. '37 years is a damn long time.'

* * *

Vincent finished his supplies hunting early that morning. His supplies that consisted primarily of flashlights, batteries, a couple of notepads, some digging tools and pencils. He didn't expect this to take more than a few hours even though he told cid it could take a whopping three days. The airship landed right alongside the where the temple of the ancients used to be. The group found the entrance to the sealed temple a few yards away from where they had first picked up the Black Materia. Being careful not to damage any of the stone sealing the entrance they carefully removed them and the great stairway below was revealed. 

Tifa gave Vincent the remaining supplies to distribute. Everyone was surprise when all he did was hand Yuffie a flashlight and they both jumped down through the hole in the ground leading to the great staircase. With Chaos guiding them they quickly made their way to the circle of purification. There were no monsters to hinder their journey in this place. The temple predated the random hordes of monsters that invaded almost every other uninhabited spot on the planet. That was why Vincent did not want to shatter the rocks above the stairway, just to move them, then to reseal the temple when they left. From the circle of Purification Chaos was now navigating them to Remus's office. When they got there they searched the wall for the proper inscription. This task was left to Vincent since of the two he was the only one who could read the ancient language. After finding it and recording the pattern for the daises, they returned to the purification chamber. In reality the didn't exactly need the flashlights. The transparent balls of materia which had lit the corridors and room in Chaos's flashbacks were still operating, only slightly dimmer than they once had been.

Vincent stepped into the center of the pool while Yuffie raced from dais to dais twisting and turning the little knobs to match the markings on the wall. The eternal patience that was part of the Valentine trademark was gone completely. Vincent stood in the middle of the pool tapping his foot and rubbing his temples in a worried motion.

"Its all set!" the young ninja called out from the side.

'Chaos what's wrong why isn't this working.' He said inwardly. _I have no idea._ the demon replied. Vincent turned to Yuffie, "Maybe I should lay down in the po-"Vincent hunched over hacking and coughing as the pool came alive with a bright glow. His eyes were bulging out of his head. Yuffie called out to him, but dare not enter the pool. Vincent's senses started fading. He could still see and feel, but his hearing had been replaced with a constant ringing noise. Vincent collapsed on the submerged platform on his side. He twisted his head up and stared at Yuffie. She was screaming something, he couldn't make out what.

Yuffie just watched in horror. She had half a mind to run back to the surface and find cloud, and another half to stay and watch. The later half won out, she dare not leave. The pool of life-stream was glowing a bright blue, and the rest of the lights began to flicker slightly. Vincent was laying in the pool on his side, his head was twisted upwards staring at Yuffie, a look of pain plastered all over his body. Suddenly there was an explosion of blood, and something large and purple flew out from Vincent's torso and out towards the ill-lit side of the room. A few moments later two more explosions followed, a white blur and a gray blur flew in a similar direction. Vincent started screaming in pain and turned his body so he was flat on his back. Yuffie was terrified, she started pounding on one of the dais unsure of what to do to stop the process.

Vincent rolled onto his back and looked down at his stomach. His shirt was ripped open and there was a thick layer of blood covering him. Suddenly he felt his left arm go numb. He looked to his left, his bronze gauntlet hand was raised in the air, he tried forcing it down but it didn't seem to be responding. The numbing feeling began to spread all along his left side. He looked at his arms, for some reason the shirt started ripping. When the rips in his sleeve became large enough Vincent was hit with a pang of fear. His skin color had changed, from a pale white to a dark shade of gray. 'Similar to the color... of Chaos's skin.' He thought to himself. 'Could this be a trick? Is he trying to take over me?' A searing pain cut into him from his left shoulder blade, he felt something pushing him up and suddenly a large black wing was flapping on the ground next to him. Suddenly the numbing sensation spread to his face, and eyesight from his left eye became very blurry and eventually all sight from that eye had left him. Vincent just closed his eyes and screamed out in pain as the fiery sensation ripped through him again.

Yuffie looked on in fear, she too had recognized the skin tone that was becoming predominant on Vincent's left side. Due to Vincent's constant writhing and squirming it was difficult to observe the changes. She looked Vincent over once, and as strange as he looked now, something even more strange caught her eye. Since when did Vincent or Chaos for that matter have three legs? Yuffie raced around to the other side of the pool get a better look. Vincent's right most leg looked normal, his leftmost looked more like one of Chaos's, and the middle was split down the middle both. Yuffie looked up at his face, and recoiled in shock. It looked like Vincent and Chaos's heads had been melted together, for a minute there was little movement as both sides stretched out in opposite directions. That's when it hit Yuffie, 'Chaos was now splitting off from Vincent's body.' After making the realization, you could imagine how relieved she became and how less frightening the sight was for her. Unfortunately there was no reduction in the pain Vincent was feeling, this pain was like nothing he had ever felt before, it was like being torn down the middle and having the wound cauterized time and time again.

After a half a heart pounding minute more there lay two figures in the pool, a pain stricken Vincent and a slightly dazed Chaos. The pool lost its glowing quality and the lights all around the room brightened some. Yuffie took it as a good sign and jumped into the shallow pool and kneeled over Vincent calling out his name.

Vincent's eyes were shut tight. The pain seemed to be gone, but he didn't want to take any chances. His other senses seemed to slowly come back to him and he heard a distant voice calling out his name. 'Yuffie.' He batted his eyes once and there she was kneeling above him. He let out a gasp and reached an arm up around her small frame and pulled her close. They were both crying tears of joy. Suddenly Vincent was overcome with laughter, he didn't know why but when he realized he was still in fact alive it became the happiest moment of his life. It was only then he realized that he was a completely different man. A week ago he would have welcomed death with open arms, now the knowledge that he was still alive gave him the most elated feeling in the world.

Suddenly he heard a loud Smack and the side of his face became very pained and tender. He opened his eyes and looked up.

Yuffie was sitting on his right hand side next to him still crying. "Stop laughing, I was scared to death for you." With her right hand she absently began feeling around his stomach for an opening, or wound of some sort. Even though there was blood all over his clothes and in the pool, she found no opening.

He caught her hand in his left. "I was scared too. I'm just happy I'm still here." She gave him a weak smile. 'Something's different.' He thought to himself. He gave her hand another squeeze. 'No way...' Vincent began to sit up, Yuffie helped him, that's when they both noticed his left arm. The bronze gauntlet was gone now, replaced was the flesh and bone he had so many years ago. Vincent ripped open his sleeve, and there it was. The same scar he had boasted to Yuffie about while he had shown her his first mission as a Turk. Vincent and Yuffie stared at each other, about to start laughing again, but their moment was cut short. There was movement to his left. The Lord Chaos, his face and body hidden behind his expansive wings slowly got to his feet and staggered towards the entrance. Yuffie began helping Vincent to his feet, they both were eager to see what he had to say.

But they were distracted by some threatening throat noises emanating from their right. 'The three explosions' Yuffie thought to herself. A weary looking Galian Beast, Hellmaster, and Death Gigas slowly advanced on the couple. There was a snapping noise from the Galian Beast as one of its legs broke, it started crawling towards them clawing the ground before its fingers snapped. Slowly Yuffie and Vincent began backing away towards the front door. The hell masker crouched forwards and leaned on his chainsaw for support before he slumped over and gave chase in a slow crawl. The death gigas was the last one standing. He walked like he was returning home from a bar, his head and body swaying in every direction, only for him to lose balance and fall over on his side. He didn't get up, the Galian beast stopped moving, and the Hell masker slumped forward in defeat. Yuffie and Vincent just looked at each other and then raced for the exit in search of Chaos.

They found him on the stairs about a quarter of the way up. He had fallen forward on them. His breathing was heavy and labored, the digits of the Bronze gauntlet flexed nervously. The two humans ran up on either side of him. He let out a quiet laugh. "Sorry for leaving you two back there, I just wanted to get a breath of fresh air once more before I died... again..." Yuffie and Vincent just looked at his sad face. "Please go, and allow me the dignity of dying by myself here, some animal trapped in a labyrinth." Both Yuffie and Vincent looked at each other, the same thought passed between them. Each one got beneath a shoulder and slowly began walking him to the surface. "What do you two think you're doing?"

"You're no mere animal to die in this place." Vincent replied.

"Ya, You've done so much for us as it is. Let us help you in this small way." Yuffie continued.

Chaos looked to either side at these two humans. He didn't say a word.

The walk to the surface was a long one, but as they neared the surface they were able to call the others below to help them. The rest of AVALANCHE was just as shocked as they were, when they realized they were hauling the demon chaos to the surface. Chaos's vision was beginning to blur, but he could feel it and smell it. 'Fresh air.' Barret and Cloud carried Chaos onto the deck of the Highwind, as the others worked quickly to reseal the hidden temple. Minutes later the Highwind took off at lightning speed towards the City of the Ancients. Chaos stopped breathing half way there. They continued never the less.

When they finally left the city a day later they left two things. The first was flowers for their fallen comrade, their precious flower girl Aeris. The second was a grave along the shore of the lake Aeris had been submerged in. It was a makeshift grave the body was covered with large stones and shells. On the large slab of smoothed granite that served as a tombstone some words had been etched in.

Lord Chaos

Rest In Peace

Creator and Protector

of this great city.

* * *

After I finished writing this I read over it once. The whole part where they find Chaos on the stairway, after I read that I was all like "... dude... that is so similar to Joe Pesci's almost death scene in 'With Honors'." But I never thought of that once while I was writing it, so I figure its ok. Don't start crying yet every body, there is still one chapter left. I was never one for happily-ever-afters. I always needed to know just what happened to them, how many kids they had, and if they died happily within six months of each other. 

I need to keep this kinda short. If i don't update now, then i won't be able to for the next week or so. Its about 8:39AM and we're leaving to move me into college in about 15 minutes.

Hotaru170: One ov the best you've ever read? Thanks alot! I appreciate the phraise.

Neko-Yuff16: Thanks I hope you enjoy this one just as much. It became slightly delayed, but that also gave me a chance to improve slightly upon it.

ShadowReaver: Thanks for the compliment, but we're almost there... the end of the line... the big... finish... I'm building it up too much, i'll stop now...  
Eva, Pixie, & Felichel: glad to hear you liked it! sniff

Empress-Eerian-Sadow: Ahhhh, thats fluff... If i have the time i'll have to throw some more in...

Cattibrie393: I appreciate it. I dunno thought i think the shades of grey part came of kinda bland. But what can ya do.

PaineKisaragi: fluff is fun. Thanks for the review! Keep readin we're almost there.


	20. Fin

I know i said i'd change the ending only if i came up with something better... well i thought it was a bit better... Sorry....

* * *

20) _Fin_.

* * *

Vincent looked at himself in the mirror, before deciding to tie his hair back in a pony-tail. The loose wavy black strands just didn't seem to go with anything with the exception of his red cape and black outfit he wore into battle. It had been nearly a week since they had buried Chaos on the shores of the lake in the City of the Ancients, and he found himself staring into a full sized mirror in one of the most upscale hotels still possessed by Midgar. He and Cloud were sharing a suite; it was nearly as large as the first floor of the Shinra mansion at Nibelhiem. There was an extremely well stocked kitchen, two bedrooms, guest bedroom, living room, three bathrooms, one with a Jacuzzi. Vincent had never tried a Jacuzzi. He decided that he would when he returned. Vincent began buttoning up his red patterned vest over his white shirt. He stared into the mirror, instead of the twin garnets staring back he found himself looking into a set of Mako green eyes, they weren't the original sky blue ones he once possessed, but it was something. He broke his gaze and looked down onto the couch next to him. On it were two pistols, a rifle, a tie, and a dress jacket. He was sure he wouldn't be able to sneak the Death Penalty in with him to his destination, which happened to be a highly upscale and well secured, but he did desire some form of protection. The pistols would have to do. 

He positioned the Outsider's holster on the small of his back, and tucked the PK's holster on his foot, jus as he had when he was a Turk. A Turk. It was as a Turk he had first heard of this place. It was co-owned by his old mentor, the man who had brought him into that line of work. The man who so many years ago had taken every opportunity to have him clubbed over the head for each deviation during his training. He had spoken to Reeve and the other Turks when they had returned to Midgar. It seemed that the man decided to retire some months after Vincent's disappearance. The disappearance of his star pupil and the lies Hojo spat out for them had driven him to an early retirement. Afterwards he began working full time at the bar. He had died of heart failure nearly seven years ago. Now the bar was owned by his grand daughter, the same girl Vincent had taken a shot at when he was first being recruited by her grandfather. Miraculously the girl was still alive, and the bar unscathed. The bar had celebrated its reopening three days ago while AVALANCHE was still sunbathing in Costa del Sol. It was an upscale place, even its regulars the Turks had to don tuxedos or cocktail dresses just to get it. But the prize was bountiful and well worth the effort of dressing up as a penguin. The bar/ restaraunt served as a waterhole for all higher ups in the black market of information. The secrets, deals, and concessions that floated around that bar rivaled that of the Turks network. So logically the Turks made sure that they had someone they trusted owning the bar.

Vincent picked up his tie and looked around. He never figured out how exactly to work a bow tie. 'Probably should have asked the tailor while I was getting the tuxedo made.' He said to himself. Everyone else had already left. Cloud, Barret, Cid, Red and Reeve were out touring the city / getting plastered with Turks. Tifa and Yuffie left a few hours before them, thick as thieves giggling like two little school girls. He was glad she was gone. Yuffie. He felt that some things about their new relationship were just wrong... some things being one thing. '37 years is long time.' He told himself again. Maybe someday she would realize that, or was he just being stupid? He paused and stared into the mirror again.

"Who heard of a 53 year old man going out with a 16 year old?" he asked himself out loud. "It's wrong. It's disgraceful." He repeated to himself, as if saying it out loud would make the feelings disappear on their own.

There was a knock at the door. 'Good, must have been the champagne I ordered.' he went over in his head. Vincent began fiddling with the tie experimenting ways to get the damn thing to look right, and absent mindedly flung the door open for who he thought was room-service. Mind still on his tie he looked up at the figure before him before returning to the problem at hand. A moment later when he realized just what it was he was looking at he dropped his hands to his sides and looked up again just to be sure.

In front of his was a smiling Yuffie. On her side she was leaning against the door frame, in her right hand she carried two champagne flutes. In the other she had a metal bucket full of ice and a chilled bottle of unopened champagne. The bell-hop gave Vincent thumbs up from the elevator as the doors closed. He blinked twice to clear his eyes. She looked completely different. Throughout their entire journey Vincent had only seen her in her infamous green turtleneck, short shorts and orange sneakers. Vincent had no idea what to think, her entire appearance confused him. She was wearing a black dress jacket, like that of a suit; underneath she was wearing what looked to be a slightly liberal black strapless miniskirt cocktail dress that was done up the back like a corset. Black stockings ran down her legs to her high heels. On each wrist she had silver charm bracelets and a medium amount of make up on her already beautiful face. Vincent gaped. Yuffie smiled back, and said, "Aren't you going to invite me in Vinny?"

Vincent stepped to the side and let her enter before closing the door. "Yuffie what are you doing here?" he asked, he didn't even notice the nickname that had once annoyed him to no end.

"I just got back from dress shopping with Tifa. We just finished having this" she motioned to herself. "custom made. Its amazing how fast the tailors will go if you just tell them you're in a hurry... and wave obscene amounts of cash in their face." Indeed, even after splitting the remainder of Gil, items, materia, and armor all of the members of AVALANCHE was extremely rich, and well off. Cloud being a cheap bastard never allowed them to buy too many weapons or armor pieces from the town weapon shops. He claimed that the weapons they found while traveling were all much 'shinier' then what they could buy in the towns, and indeed they were. Yuffie put the champagne and glasses down on the table. She had a calm and cheery voice as she said, "You know its funny Vinny. That girl, the one you almost shot, I remembered she was the granddaughter of that Turk who trained you. So, I asked Reeve about her whereabouts. Funny thing is,' she giggled for a moment, 'right off the bat he knew just who I was talking about. Gave me her place of business, hours everything. So I asked him, and this is where it gets really funny.' her smile was gone. 'I asked him how he knew all this off the top of his head." Yuffie turned and looked at him. Her voice was much more pained and sad now, "He said you already asked about her and that you were planning on visiting her today... without me..."

"Yuffie...." Vincent had no idea what to say.

Yuffie turned around again and as she was opening and pouring the champagne into the two flutes said, "So, Me and Vince became good friends. There must have been some reason why he wouldn't invite me to go with him, after all he did invite me to witness his separation from his demons and I already helped him so much in his reconciliation, and he knew that I wanted to be there with him so... much..." her voice for an instant sounded like a whisper. "Then it dawned on me. Vincent, how old are you." She walked up to him and locked gazes, holding one of the flutes out to him.

Vincent took the champagne from her. "Fifty Three." He said quickly before downing the champagne.

"Fifty-three." Yuffie repeated dropping her stare to the floor, on hand under her chin, and the other limply holding the champagne flute. She looked up at Vincent and said. "Thirty seven years is a long time."

Vincent walked back to the table and started pouring another glass of champagne. "I know Yuffie, that's why-"

She cut him off. "Sit down Vincent I'll help you with that tie." Vincent sighed once and sat down on the foot stool ahead of the full length mirror. Yuffie sat down behind him and stretched her arms under his own and started working his bow-tie. 'God I hope I remember how to do this.' "Seven years isn't." she said suggestively.

He knew what she was thinking. Forget those thirty years in the coffin. As much as he would have like to forget those many years of self loathing and depression they were too much a part of his life. "Yuffie, I can't-"

She jerked on his neck once lightly. "Chin up."

He raised his chin a little. "I can't just ignore those years."

"I'm not asking you to ignore them. I'm asking you to look at it from a different point of view." She looked at her handy-work in the mirror and quickly undid it and started anew. "In the dictionary '_to live_' is defined as: To go through; experience, or to practice one's life. Now, when you were in that coffin I don't believe you were alive. Because you did not go through anything you haven't encountered before. There were no new experiences, and you practiced nothing. So in my view those thirty years are invalid, and there is only a seven year gap between us."

"Yuffie..." he said again. He still had no idea what to say. She was trying so hard to make this ok for him. Maybe he was being too obstinate about this, or was he just letting the public eye frighten him. He had feelings for this girl, yes, but at the same time there were so many years separating them. On one hand he was aging in the same manner as Chaos was. Thirty years was a blink of an eye to Chaos. On the other, he grew up with her father... If it went that far his best friend as a child would be giving away his wife. Vincent nearly chuckled at the thought. It was a thought that had run through his head a thousand times over during their journey; 'Godo giving her away, their age difference, how... how wrong... it would have been...' Vincent scrunched his eyes in thought. He remembered these thoughts clear as day, but what could have caused them? He had no recollections of similar thoughts towards Aeries or Tifa. He struggled with his more recent memories. Where did those thoughts come from? Suddenly the flood-gates of memories opened and some things once forgotten came crashing back.

* * *

_"A man with nothing to lose... Has everything to gain..." _

_". what?... " _

_"Everything... You could have everything..." _

_"Everything what?" _

_"Life, Humanity, love..." _

It was... it was his conversation with... _himself_.

* * *

It was beginning to come back to him. Somewhere in the middle of that conversation Chaos had interrupted him and asked him to go with Yuffie through his memories. His breathing became somewhat heavier as he delved deeper. 'He was speaking to himself... about what... about... what he wanted... _yes_...' 

The four doors present in his mind... were there four? One lead to the tragedies of his child-hood, another to those of his adolescence, a third to his early adulthood, and a fourth that he believed to be the most recent which alluded to his time with Lucrecia. But there was a fifth, hidden so deep within himself; it was a shroud of mystery even to him. Only Chas who had been with him for those many years knew where to look for it. And strangely enough it was Chaos, who a short time before that was plotting to take over Vincent's body, who came to him and offered the resolution.

* * *

_(Chaos) Your pessimism is'nt fooling anyone, go talk with her.

* * *

_

What he wanted... yes... He wanted to be with her...

* * *

"_Where was I?" Vincent breathed to himself. _

_"You were avoiding the subject of what you want." _

_"We know what you want, and you know what you want. Why do you continue resist?"_

_"Because monsters don't deserve what they want._"

* * *

It had ended there… Afterwards he had closed that section of his mind and went back to wait for Yuffie, content to end this episode within his mind as quickly as possible.

At the time he believed himself to a monster, a hideous creature, a plague to mankind that had brought nothing but misery and suffering to those around him. After the horrible fates of all his previous loved ones it seemed like the only truth. Even those he simply cared for without even their knowledge seemed to end up dieing as a result of him. Look at Yuffie. She was trapped in the life-stream with him where they would more likely than not rot to death together, simply because she decided to follow him.

So he pushed everything and everyone away. Especially his feelings for that small ninja... He hid away all his feelings, and the moral implications of such a pairing served only to make him push them even further, until he was placed in a position where he had no choice but to face them, to face her. He had managed to hide his true feelings from Yuffie, she had never discovered that place in his mind. And afterwards he even managed to hide the memories from himself.

But now there was a second chance to rethink the situation... a chance to rethink the feelings he had stored away for so long.

Yuffie was oblivious to his thoughtful look and continued talking. "Besides, when I'm old and sixty, you'll still look like you're twenty-three. It won't matter then, why would it matter now?" Vincent took the liberty to lower his head a little to get a view. The tie looked great now, but there were tears in her eyes.

Vincent just looked at her for a moment. "You make a strong point." She pulled the ends of his tie out a little tightening it.

Then she dropped her hand to his shoulders. 'Vincent was from a completely different time.' Yuffie thought to herself. 'Social norms like this weren't something you would break without a serious amount of thought, some you still can't. I've heard so much nagging from my father about how different our generations are, how much more liberal we are...' her heart was aching, she thought she knew where this conversation was heading, and it was neither happy or beautiful. In a sea of colors it was a shade of gray.

"Technically... I guess I am still just twenty three."

Her heart skipped a beat, and Yuffie looked at him through his reflection. "Really?"

"Really" he replied. He decided at that point 'Screw the norms. There is nothing normal about the two of us anyways, a royal materia hunter and an ex turk/demon. I think I'm in love with this girl.'

She dried her unshed tears. "That's... That's really good. I'm glad to hear it." She was ecastic, all she could do from jumping up and down in joy was rub her eyes a little too hard and embrace the slight scheing pain in her high heeled feet.

Vincent stood up and moved around the chair. He took both her hands in his and looked down into her stormy gray eyes. "Yuffie... I think... I think I love you. I have for awhile now; I've just never been ok about saying it." He sighed. "I just pushed the feelings away. But no more. I love you, and I want you to know it, I want the world to know it. My only regret is that it's taken me this long to fully realize it."

Yuffie just looked into his Mako greens, they were different from the garnet set had earlier, but it was a welcome change, these eyes were warm with feeling and life. A small smile emerged on her face, and with a calm whisper like quality she replied, "I know."

It didn't happen often, but the roles of the two in conversation became switched. Yuffie adopted Vincent's technique of one-liners, and Vincent grew impatient and angry over it.

"I know... Yuffie, I just told you I love you, it's hard enough as it is. I'm telling you I love you, can you at least-"

She cut him off a second time in that conversation, on her tip-toes she pulled his head down and engaged with him a soft sensual kiss that lasted an eternity for the two. When Yuffie lowered herself from Vincent's lips she repeated in a soft stern voice, "I know."

Vincent slowly opened his eyes and looked down at her. "You know..."

Yuffie shined an enormous grin at Vincent as she slowly backed away towards the door. "Come on now, or we'll be late."

Vincent picked his tuxedo jacket up off the couch and quickly grabbed his PK stuffing it in his ankle holster. "Late for what?"

"I made eight o'clock reservations for us at the ritziest place still open in Midgar." She called out as she opened the door. "I figure we finish this within an hour, half hour cab ride later we sit down for dinner at our first formal, in real life not in our head, date." She winked once. "On you."

Vincent smiled. "On me, of course." Vincent followed her out the door. As it clicked shut behind them he held out his right arm in a loop, and gave Yuffie a happy grin. Yuffie smiled back and looped her left arm around his, and the two began walking towards the elevators. "And after tonight, what do you propose we do?" Vincent asked looking over at his date.

Yuffie sheepishly shrugged and replied, "We have time. We'll make it up as we go along." She pulled the arm closer and rested her head on his shoulder as the entered the elevator.

The two made their way out of the hotel, the darkness and confusion of their feelings no longer a blinding factor, they had each other and that's all they needed. A few years later when Yuffie became of legal age, they were wed under the shadow of Dao Chao, with all of Avalanche and most of Wutai present. Indeed Godo graciously gave his daughter away to his childhood friend, a thought which never ceased to amuse Vincent. Yuffie was an undoubtedly beautiful bride, and Vincent a naturally handsome groom. By the time Yuffie was ready to take over as leader of Wutai they already had three children, one eldest son and two daughters, they lovingly named Edgar, Aeris and Sera.

And together they lived as happily together as time would allow them.

* * *

So I was looking at this chapter on my laptop and the ending just seemed so dull... All it was was Vincent deciding that it would be ok for him to date Yuffie even though there was an age difference. I started elaborating on that and the next thing I know I have this section on how he held back his true feelings for her. I remembered that self-reflection chapter and it dawned on me how I could use it. When I first put that chapter in I thought it would be kinda lame because it was so short, but now its like a godsend for the ending. I thought the transformation was pretty cool. But I'm still kinda disappointed by it. I'm gonna keep working at it. Should I come up with anything better I'll switch out the chapters... 

Anyways, the children's names: The son takes Gast's first name, I remembered he had one in an earlier chapter, so I went back and dug that out. I think we all know who Aeris is named after, and Sera was Vincent's first love, the girl who shot him so he fell through the manhole in an earlier chapter. Just felt like pointing that out.

I'm kinda bummed that this is finished. My first real attempt at a fanfiction. It ended pretty well I think... Anyways, I'd like to thank all those people who stuck with me through thick and thin, I really appreciate your reviews and everything! Sometimes when I was feeling discouraged, I would just go back through the reviews and feel remotivated. That's actually a large part of why I kept writing, I just really wanted to see how you would reply. Positive reinforcement is a grand thing!

I was thinking about doing a sequel to this, something along the lines of 'the misadventures of Vincent and yuffie valentine' but it will probably end up a flop and I don't want to ruin the ending to this. I actually had four fics I was thinking about. There is 'the general' which is coming along slowly. The sequel to that 'the clone.' Which will probably end up being 1000x times more interesting (The only real reason I'm doing 'the general' is to create a history I can reference for 'the clone'.). And I was thinking about a story about Jenova. How she get to the planet and how the war between her and the centra begins. Also there is a... well I spose a sequel to this. But it would take place like a few hundred years after meteor. Vincent will be there, and that would probably be the only connecting factor.

Anyways, the story is finished, and i cant' keep from grinning. Onto the replies:

Neko-Yuff16: Killing Chaos seemed to be the only way i could effectively get him out of Vincent. Having The Demon Chaos running around just didn't seem like it would inspire closure. And ya, atleast now hes with all his friends in the life-stream. Cause its just like heaven, or the elysian fields maybe, where you see every one you ever knew and happily hang out with them.

Empress-Eerian-Sadow: Thanks for the compliment. Splitting them up wasn't too pleasant... it was kinda hard to describe just what was happening without becomeing too repetative, but i'm glad to hear you liked it! Makes me feel like i've suceeded! 'With Honors' was a pretty nice movie, i wouldn't pay money to see it again, but the first time around its pleasant.

Hotaru170: I'm glad you liked chapter 19, and i hope you like 20 just as much. While this was definetly one of the shorter chapters, I just couldn't decide on a suitable ending, and thats partially why it took so long.

Cattibrie393: Thanks for the compliment. I'm sure i've said this sometime or another, but originally it was Chaos i wanted to talk about. Originally i was going to write him into a separate story, but fitting his story into this fic just seemed to work out. It worked out for the better i think.

ShadowReaver: I'm happy to hear the muses are so exited about this chapter and i hope i haven't let them down! Thanks for the compliment again! hah it seems like i say that once or twice each chapter when i'm writing replies, but i really do appreciate them. The move went well. No one was hurt, we got the futton and desk up without a hitch, now i just have to figure out how to work this darn air-conditioner.

Again I'd like to thank each and everyone of my readers, I did this for you! I hope you liked my story as much as i liked writing it! However all good things must come to an end. But remember its not the ending that matters, its the journey itself. The ending can only serve to sweeten it!

Catch yall on the flipside!

* * *

-Iflyte 


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